Family Healing
by Random-1985
Summary: AU It started with a visit to her father in the rehab facility. Kate never expected it to lead to time away with Richard Castle and his family in the Hamptons.
1. Chapter 1

_**I like to try and think of things that have not been done before, and so here's something that you may consider to be a little bit of a weird beginning, but I'm hoping it'll just be a good fun story with lots of fun and random moments. I don't want to give too much away right now, so I'll just get straight into the story. Before I start I will say that I do not own Castle. **_

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"Ready… set… go"

The green and orange hippo heads bounced up and down on the board while the two controlling them roared with laughter, hitting the tail in front of them trying to get their hippo to eat the most white balls. The older of the two used his free hand to try to push the balls into his hippo's mouth.

"Daaaaaad, no cheating!" the young girl said back slapping his hand away.

Once all the balls were gone, they counted them to see who had the most.

"I have 9," Richard said with a sigh, knowing that once again he lost.

"10! I win again!" replied his daughter, Alexis.

They placed all the pieces back into the centre of the game ready to play another round.

"So, how is school going?"

"It's good. We're learning about all the different planets at the moments. It's really interesting. We've got a project to do where we have to make a model of the solar system so I've been working on that a bit. It's due next week, just before our break."

"That's great pumpkin. I'm sorry I haven't been there to help you."

"Grams is helping me, she…"

"Grams is helping you? Seriously?" he interrupted, surprised.

"Yeah, she's actually been really helpful. It's not the same as doing it with you, but she still makes it fun. She wants me to paint all my planets bright colours. But I want them to look more realistic. I really don't think Jupiter is bright pink like grams says," she said with a laugh.

"No, I don't think so either." He looked down at the game. "Ready?"

"Set"

"Go!"

Again, they bashed at their hippo pieces until all the balls had been eaten, and once again Alexis won.

"How do you do it? Every single time?" Rick asked.

"I think you let your hippo go a little bit too crazy dad! You need to have more control."

"What do you mean? It's all about speed!"

"Speed hasn't been getting you anywhere for the last 10 games," Alexis stated while shaking her head. "Trust me. This time, I'll play the way you do and you try and control it, and I bet you anything, you'll win."

"Alexis Castle, you are much too young to be gambling."

Alexis raised her eyebrows at her father. "You know what I mean."

Rick placed the white balls in the middle of the game again and they started up another game. This time he tried his best to be more calm with his playing style, while Alexis tried to show him what he did wrong. He had to admit, she did make it look a little crazy. With just one ball left in the middle the pair fought over it, neither able to get it in their hippos mouth when Rick gave up on the 'calm' approach and he hit his hippo harder than usual and the game went flying from the table and onto the floor.

Alexis slapped her head with her hand and wiped it down her face. "Daaaaaaaaaaaad!" With a huff, she started crawling around the floor picking up all the pieces while her father sat in his chair trying not to laugh.

"What? I didn't do anything," he said with a shrug, and then he got down and picked up a few pieces himself.

At another table, Kate Beckett sat with her father, his hands clasped in hers.

"Really dad, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine Katie. I'm doing really well. Only another couple of weeks and I should be out of here."

"Really?"

"Really," Jim Beckett nodded.

"That's great dad! You know you are looking much better. I'm glad you decided to come here. For a while, I thought I was going to lose you too."

"I'm sorry Katie. You shouldn't have had to deal with that. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me for a while longer yet," he smiled.

"Good"

"So, tell me, hows work? Any exciting arrests lately?"

"No, not really. I put in my application for detective this week. They should be getting back to me over the next few weeks about that. I know I'm still young, so I'm not sure they'll accept it right now, but it's worth a try right? It brings me one step closer to be able to find some answers, not just for me, but for both of us."

"They'd be silly to knock you back! And please, just be careful. I want answers just as much as you do, but be careful."

"I will"

Kate was about to tell her dad about the latest arrest she had made when a little voice spoke beside her. "Um…. Excuse me?" said the voice.

Jim and Kate both turned their heads to the red head standing by their table.

"Are you lost?" asked Kate, placing her had on the girls elbow, a move she knew to be calming without being overbearing.

"No, one of our playing pieces rolled under your table."

Jim looked under the table and noticed the small white ball. He picked it up and handed it back to the young girl. "Here you go."

"Thank you. I'll tell my dad to behave himself and not go so overboard with the game next time."

Both Jim and Kate laughed. "What are you playing?" Kate asked.

"Hungry hungry hippos."

"Oh I remember that game," Kate responded with a huge smile, thinking back on the fun times she had with her parents playing the silly game.

"Katie used to love that game," Jim said.

"Would you like to join us? We have room for two more." Alexis said pointing over to where her father was sitting.

When Rick saw his daughter pointing over to him, he pulled a funny face at her which made the two people she was talking to laugh. He wasn't sure who they were but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful the young woman looked when she smiled.

Alexis turned back to Kate and Jim. "That's my dad, he's a little weird, but he's cool. So would you like to play a game with us?"

"Oh, no, it's okay. You should have fun with your dad."

By now Rick had made his way over to his daughter to find out what was taking so long.

"Hi," he said reaching the table. "Alexis, did you get the piece?"

"Yeah, I was just inviting um…" she paused. "I forgot to ask their names," she said quietly to her father, feeling a little embarrassed.

"I'm Kate, and this is my father Jim," Kate said giving a wink to Alexis, trying to let her know that it was okay.

Rick held out his hand to Kate and shook her hand. "Richard Ca… Rodgers" he said, not wanting to divulge his author identity while he was at the centre. "And this is my daughter, Alexis." He then turned to shake Jim's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. So will you be joining us in our game then?"

"Oh no, it's ok, Mr Rodgers…" Kate started.

"Rick is fine"

"Ok then, Rick. You and Alexis should enjoy your game together."

When Rick looked down at his daughter, she looked a little disappointed. It seemed like she had really wanted some others to join them.

"Oh c'mon. You don't want my little pumpkin to go home sad now would you?"

"Dad!" Alexis said with wide eyes, and suddenly the sadness was replaced again by embarrassment because he had called her pumpkin in front of these other people.

"Shhhhh… this is going to work, trust me!" he whispered in her ear.

Then he looked back at the beautiful woman sitting in front of him and gave her the cheesiest smile he could manage. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease," he said.

Kate looked from the man standing in front of her, to his daughter, who had adopted a very similar cheesy grin, and then to her own father who just shrugged. "Ok then, we'll come join you for a game or two."

"Yes!" exclaimed Rick with a fist pump. "Told you it would work," he said teasingly towards Alexis.

Rick led them over to the table they were previously sitting at where the hungry hippos game was waiting.

Alexis sat first and started fiddling with the game putting all the pieces on the game. Just before they sat Kate turned to Rick, "You know, you look a little familiar. Do I know you?"

"Uh… no. I don't think so. I mean, I don't know you, and you don't look like someone who would be easy to forget. So no, I don't think you would know me."

Kate blushed a little at the compliment and then took a seat next to her father.

Once all the pieces were arranged and everyone was ready, Alexis turned to her father. "Now, dad, behave yourself this time. I don't want to have to crawl around the floor picking up pieces again."

"Okay, okay. I'll behave," he said.

Alexis counted them in and they all started hitting their hippos. Kate couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. She'd forgotten how it felt to be like a young girl again and a part of her was glad that Rick had convinced them to join in their game. She looked over at her father and even he was smiling and enjoying himself. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so happy.

They continued playing a few games and Rick was carefully watching each of the others at the table. To look at them you wouldn't think that they barely knew each other, and that they'd only met five minutes ago. They were all laughing and having a great time together. He loved his time with Alexis and the last 6 weeks had been difficult with restricted visit times, so he'd been very careful to keep the time to just them, but now he was thinking that he should have come out to the open area sooner.

He looked over at Kate and couldn't find the words to describe how stunning she looked. He wasn't sure why she was there, he hadn't seen her around before, so he guessed she was visiting her father. He could also see that there was something behind her smile though, something behind the laughter. She was hiding something. The way her father looked at her was only further proof that there was more to her story. Jim looked at her with a smile that made Rick believe she hadn't appeared to be that happy in a while. It was obvious that times were hard for her with her father in the facility but she was doing the best she could.

Then there was Jim. He looked like a simple man, but a strong man. He wasn't sure why he was here, how long he'd been here or how long he had to stay, but he was drawn to this man and his daughter, and he wanted to find out more about them. He decided at that moment, that it was time to make a friend in this place. He hadn't made any in the 6 weeks he'd been there, because he was afraid that somehow they'd find out his real identity, and his whereabouts would be made known to the media. That was the last thing his daughter needed right now, news and rumours about her father being in rehab.

After a few games, Rick looked over to see his mother walking through the door so he waved her over.

"Hello Richard, how are you?"

"I'm good mother," he stood up and kissed her cheek.

"I see you're finally making some friends," Martha said pointedly looking towards Jim and Kate.

"Yeah, well Alexis was making friends. This is Jim and Kate."

Martha smiled at them both and shook their hands.

"Right kiddo," she said to Alexis. "Are you ready? It's time to go home."

"Dad, why can't you come with us?"

"Pumpkin," he wrapped her in a hug. "I would love to but I need to stay a little longer. I'll be home soon, okay. We talked about this remember, We just have to make sure I'm not sick anymore."

"I know. But, I miss you."

"I miss you too. When I come home, we'll go away and we'll have tons of time together okay."

"Okay," she kissed her dad on the cheek and then turned to face Kate and Jim. "Will we see you again next week?"

Rick put his hand on his daughters shoulder. "Alexis, I think Jim and Kate might want to spend some time on their own again next week."

Alexis sighed.

Kate crouched down in front of the young girl so she could see her face. "You know what Alexis, I think we can arrange something. I had fun today, I would love to join you guys for another game next week." She looked up towards Rick to make sure it was alright.

Rick smiled and nodded. It wasn't the same smile he had before, it was a smile of gratitude. He couldn't believe that this almost stranger could be so kind to his daughter that she barely knew. Right then, he knew, she was an amazing woman, and he wanted to get to spend more time with her. Kate quickly spoke to Martha to make sure she and Alexis would both be at the centre at the same time again next week, then they all said their goodbyes.

"Well, I should leave you to it. I'm sorry if we intruded on your time, but thank you for helping make my little girl happy."

"It's our pleasure," Jim said with a smile. "She's gorgeous."

"Yeah, she is," Rick said with a smile. "Well, I'll talk to you later, and Kate, I'll see you next week I guess."

Rick walked over to another empty table and sat down by himself. He looked over and watched Jim and Kate as they once again were engaged in a private conversation. Why had he kept himself shut away in his room for the past 6 weeks? If he had realised there were people this nice, this beautiful, this amazing out here, he would have come out the first week here.

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_**So there is chapter one. Rick is in rehab. If you want to know why, you'll have to wait and see. Let me know what you think. **_

_**I've got the story planned out, have written a few chapters and I've been enjoying writing it so much that I just couldn't wait to start posting it up, so I figured I might as well just start putting it up. Hopefully I'll be able to keep writing quickly and update regularly. **_

_**Anyways, that all. And again, reviews are great! :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Wow... I was surprised by the number of alerts that I received for this but, it's great to see that people are interested. **_

_**A couple of people left reviews asking me not to leave this as a short one chapter thing and to make sure I finish it... and don't worry! I'm with you all the way there. I've read so many stories lately that just suddenly stop and haven't been updated in months. It's frustrating! So even if I end up with only 1 or 2 people til the end... I will make it to the end. **_

_**Also, incase you were wondering, the whole story does not take place in the rehab facilitiy and I really don't go into too much detail with the rehab at all. I've used the rehab as a different meeting ground and it's kinda where we get to see the characters and their stories a little more before getting into the real fun of it all.  
**_

_**I think that's it for now. So on with the story... **_

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When Rick looked at the clock he found it hard to believe that it had been two full hours since Alexis had left. All he had done throughout that time was watch Jim and his daughter while they chatted over the other side of the room. How did he not realise how much time was passing by? There was just something about this young woman that caught his attention, and it wasn't just the way she smiled. It was everything about her. There was something in her eyes and in her personality that just had him wanting to know everything about her.

He pulled out his notepad and pen and started jotting down ideas for a new character. He'd lost all inspiration to write before he entered rehab, but suddenly ideas were pouring into his mind. All because of this one woman, who he barely knew anything about. He was actually excited about writing again. He hadn't written in months as he was unable to come up with any new ideas. He started to think that his career was over, but now here he was unable to stop his hand from moving.

A few moments later, he was interrupted when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see who it was only to see Kate's beautiful eyes looking down at him.

"I wanted to come over and say bye before I left. I hope I'm not interrupting anything, you looked like you were really getting into whatever it is you're writing there."

Rick wasn't quite sure what to say. "I… uh… no, this… you… it's nothing," is all he managed to get out. He wanted to tell her that she had actually been the inspiration for what he was writing, but he didn't want to freak her out. "Thanks again for joining me and Alexis earlier, she really enjoyed herself," he finally said getting some words together.

He stood up so she didn't have to look down at him and he only now realised just how tall she was. She was almost eye to eye with him, and he wanted nothing more than for her to stay there while he figured out the story in her eyes.

"It was really no problem, and I'll be back next week. I look forward to seeing Alexis again. You've got a great kid!" Kate said, stepping back to put a little extra space between them.

"Thanks," he nodded, suddenly wanting to tell her how amazing his child was, but he decided he would save that for another day. He settled on a simple response. "She is pretty amazing."

"Well, I should be going but I just have one quick request." Kate looked down at her feet suddenly looking unsure about whether or not she should be asking what she was about to ask.

"A request? I'm sure whatever it is, it can't be that bad. What is it?" he questioned, hoping she would look back up at him so he could look into her eyes again.

"Yeah. It's more for my dad than for me. You can say no if you want to." She glanced up at him, trying to read the look on his face.

"I'm not sure it would be possible for me to say no to you," he said giving her what he thought was his most charming smile, without being creepy.

"Well, I've been visiting him every week and this week was the first time he actually interacted with others since being here. I really don't think he's made friends in this place, and well I know how important it is to have friends and support when he gets out. Would you mind maybe just talking to him? You don't have to if it's too much, but I would really appreciate it, and I know my dad would too but he won't say anything. I know you've probably got your own things to do here, so if it's too much for you I understand, I'm just worried ab…"

"Kate," he reached out and placed his hand on her arm as she started to ramble in order to calm her worries, but as he did, he felt her flinch a little under his hand so he quickly removed it. "Of course, I'll talk to your dad. To be honest, I've been much like him and have been hiding away myself. I think it'll be good for both of us to have someone to talk to."

"Thanks Rick. It means a lot, and really, if it's too much, forget I even asked."

"It's fine," he smiled. "You take care of yourself."

"You too."

Finally, she smiled back at him and his heart just about melted in his chest.

Kate looked back over to her father gave him one last wave and then she was walking out the door.

It was only then that Rick noticed the four inch heels the woman was wearing, and now her height made sense. Although she did have some incredibly long legs, and the jeans she was wearing were just the perfect amount of rightness for her figure. Stunning! Upon realising he was staring at her behind as she walked out he quickly snapped himself out of it.

When Kate was out the door, Rick decided there was no time like the present to go over and start his new friendship with Jim, so he went and joined Jim at the table again.

"I love family days here, don't you?" Rick said, unsure how to start the conversion without their daughters there.

"Katie sent you over here didn't she?" Jim asked, not responding to Ricks original question.

"Yeah, she kind of did. She asked me to be your friend. I know how silly that sounds, but she said that you spent most of your time alone here and, I've been the same and I think she has a point. It'd be good to have a friend in here, and when we're out of here too."

"Ahhh, Katie, she's a good kid. Always looking out for me. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be in here right now. Who knows where I'd be if she hadn't been there for me. She's been through so much but she's still so strong. But yeah, she is right, I probably do need a friend."

"Great. Consider me your new friend." he laughed.

"You do realise how ridiculous that sounds. We are grown men."

"Trust me, I've had many the ridiculous conversations, this is definitely not the strangest," Rick responded. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what is it that you're here for?"

"I'm an alcoholic," Jim said and looked down at his hands. "It's taken me years to be able to admit that, and now it hurts to even think about it. Knowing what I have put Katie through. How about you?"

"I got myself addicted to sleeping pills, and with a 10 year old daughter, it's not the best thing to be addicted to. I hit a rough patch, work was becoming difficult. I thought my career was over and my publi… my boss was constantly on my back. It was just all too much. I'd lay awake all night unable to sleep trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. So I got sleeping pills to help me, and then somehow I felt like they were making things better. Instead of worrying, I just slept. But one day I didn't make it to Alexis' school to pick her up because I was passed out at home, and that's when I knew I had to get myself fixed up. If not for me, for her. She's my world, and her mother, well she hasn't been much of a mother to her, she left when Alexis was only really young. So I want to be the best father that I can be. So I know exactly what you mean when you say it hurts knowing what you put your family through. Alexis is doing really well though."

Rick wasn't sure what made him just share everything so quickly with this man, but he hoped that being open about it would help him share too. This new friendship, this was sure to be good for the both of them.

"She really is a beautiful child." Jim said about the young red head.

"Yeah, I think she puts on a brave face for me. I know that me being here is hard on her."

"I know what you mean. My Katie is the same. I know she's hurting but she pushes it aside to try and make me feel better. She was such a confident young woman, but now she seems so lost and scared. I hope that once I'm out of here, she'll start living her own life again and gets her confidence back. She's spent the last 5 years focusing on me. I want her to be able to start focusing on herself."

"So, sorry if I'm prying here, but I noticed it was only Kate who came to see you, and I noticed you wear a ring…"

"My wife passed away," Jim said quickly knowing exactly what Rick was going to ask. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she was taken from us much too soon. That's when I started drinking, Katie quit school to come back and look after me and then joined the police academy. One day I hope to be able to talk about it without it being too painful, but her death was difficult for us to accept. It was unexpected and we never really got answers as to why it happened. My daughter struggles with it too, but she dealt with the pain in her own way without turning to alcohol. It's the reason she decided to join the NYPD, but that's Katie's story to tell, not mine."

"I understand. You know what, I think this sharing thing actually isn't so bad," Rick laughed and there was a moment of silence.

"So, Kate's a cop? That's kinda hot!" Rick said before thinking.

"Watch it Rick. That's my daughter you're talking about," Jim scolded.

"Sorry," he laughed nervously. "I guess that is something I'm going to have to deal with one day. Boys. Alexis is growing up so fast. She has these real grown up moments, where I think she's more of an adult than I am. When she comes to visit me though, I feel like she tries not to be so grown up, she tries to be that little girl again. I think maybe she blames herself for me being here, I don't know. But, back to boys, I know that one day she'll be hanging out with them, and I'm really not sure I'm ready for that."

"Rick, I don't think any father is ever ready for that, but you get through it. I remember the first boy Katie brought home to meet us. Let's just say, we were not impressed by him, but I think that made her just want to spend more time with him. We were relieved when they broke it off, we didn't show it though. Katie was upset and she needed to know we were there for her. I guess the one thing I learnt with Katie, is that little girls always need their fathers, no matter how many arguments we had, she always knew she could come to me for a hug when she was upset. I loved that but sadly, we haven't had a lot of that lately. I've been too caught up in myself."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up! You're here, and you're sorting it out. And I can see that she still loves and respects you. If she didn't she wouldn't be visiting you and she wouldn't have sent me to talk to you. I don't think it was easy for her to ask, she was a little embarrassed I think, but she did it, because she loves you."

They both laughed. "You know what," Rick continued again, "It's been really good talking to you. I should have done this sooner. It's good to have someone I can talk to other than the councillors. I feel like they're always judging, examining and taking notes, but having a friend to just listen is good."

"It is but, I guess I should be getting back to my room and having a shower before dinner. I'll see you later Rick."

"Yeah, me too."

The two men nodded at each other as a goodbye and then went their separate ways to their rooms.

As Rick walked back to his room, he couldn't get the image of Kate's beautiful eyes out of his mind and he didn't want to. He was in the centre getting better for his daughter, but now he had even more reason to get out of there. He wanted to spend more time with this amazing woman. When he got back to his room, he pulled out his notepad and pen once again and started to write down more ideas for his new character. The insight he had been given from Jim only inspired him further, but there was no way he was going to be able to use this character without first talking to Kate and Jim about it. He hoped they would be okay with it, he wouldn't use their names of course, but knowing that their lives would be inspiring his writing could be too much for them.

He wrote down a few things and it wasn't until he was putting his notepad away that he realised they don't even know who he really is. He had introduced himself as Richard Rodgers. Now he was filled with more questions. Did he want to reveal that he was really Richard Castle, mystery novelist or did he just want to be Richard Rodgers for a while longer? No matter what the answer was, it didn't need to be decided right away.

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_** I try my best to edit this before posting but I'm not perfect, so any mistakes are my own. If you find any, please let me know so that I can fix them. **_

_**Let me know your thoughts, and I should have another chapter up within the next 2 days. I've got a few chapters ready, but I don't want to put them all up and then run out of chapters and make you all wait another week before I'm able to post another. Regular updates are good, yes?  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks again for the reviews and can I just say that I am completely blown away by the response to this so far. I just hope that I don't let you all down now :)**_

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It had been an entire week since Rick had seen his daughter and he was excited that it was finally family day again. He hoped Kate would keep her word and would come along and join them for a game or two with her father. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't excited about the idea of getting to spend some time with her as well, but nothing was more important to him than Alexis.

He thought back to the week that had just gone and it seemed like he had made some real progress since striking up his friendship with Jim. Having someone there to talk to was actually really good for him. He no longer held things in to himself, and he wasn't afraid of being judged by Jim. It seemed that Jim was the same. Rick noticed that he appeared happier as the week progressed and he too had opened up to Rick sharing all sorts of stories about his days with his wife and his struggles with the bottle after she died. He also shared quite a few stories about Kate's younger day which surprised Rick. It seemed she wasn't as sweet and innocent as he had imagined and it only made him want to find out more.

He was sitting at his usual table in the big room with the Hungry Hungry Hippos game sitting in front of him while he watched the door. He waited patiently for Alexis to come running through like she usually did and he got quite a surprise when Alexis came in side by side with Kate. He looked behind them expecting to see his mother follow them in, but she wasn't there.

When Alexis saw her dad she immediately ran over to him and enveloped him in a hug.

"How are you pumpkin?" he asked when he pulled away.

"I'm really good now that I get to see you. Are you coming home today?"

"Not yet sweetie, but soon. Look, I have your favourite game here ready."

"Dad," Alexis said with a serious tone and face. "You know this is your favourite game, not mine!"

"But it's so fun! How can you not love it?"

"I do love it. I just think you love it more."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So, where's grams? Did she not come in with you today?"

"No, she had to go out to an audition today, Kate brought me. We went in…"

"Kate brought you here?" he interrupted, extremely surprised. "How?"

"In her car, duh!" Alexis responded like it was the most normal thing in the world for her to be in the car with Kate.

"Yeah, but what? I just don't know how that's possible. How did she…"

"Relax Rick!" Kate said as she made her way over to him. "Your mother and I exchanged numbers last week remember. She called me during the week and asked if I was still coming in today. She didn't want Alexis to miss out on her time with you and asked if I minded bringing her along. I know how precious these moments are here and so of course I said yes."

"Thank you," Rick said with such sincerity, it actually looked like he was fighting back tears.

The truth was, he was fighting back tears. His little girl was his world and it was for her that he had gone into rehab, to be better, for Alexis. He would have been devastated if he missed out on seeing her. It meant so much to him that someone else would care enough to do that for him, he knew that he didn't deserve it after everything he had done.

"Really, thank you," he repeated. "I'll make it up to you one day some how. I'll buy you a coffee when I get out of here, gosh I'll buy you a hundred coffees, no even better, I'll buy you dinner, one hundred dinners."

A part of him did seriously want to take her out to dinner. But now was not the right time to think about that or ask that. He was still in rehab, who would say yes to dinner with someone in rehab?

"Seriously," Kate laughed. "It wasn't a hassle, I was coming in anyway."

"But, she's my little girl, and you didn't have to."

"Well, she did. And that's the end of that," Alexis jumped in with a quick nod. "And we went out for ice cream on Wednesday too."

"You and grams?" he asked.

"And Kate," she smiled in return.

Rick looked up towards Kate with a confused expression.

"When Martha called, she asked if I wanted to join them for ice cream. I was due for a break from work so I said yes. Again, it was nothing. Your mother is really sweet. She wanted to make sure I wasn't alone in this, and that I had someone looking after me."

"Yeah, that sounds like my mother. So she wasn't too much to handle? She can be quite extravagant at times."

"No, she was fine. I didn't have long on my break so it was quite a brief meeting but it was nice, wasn't it Alexis?"

Alexis nodded.

Rick was sure the smile had not left his daughters face since she arrived and apart from the confused looks he had a couple of times he was certain he hadn't stopped smiling either.

It was only a minute or so later that Jim appeared and made his way over to the table where they were waiting.

"Hi dad," Kate said, and reached out to give him a hug.

They all sat down and just chatted for a while asking how things were and catching up on what had been happening in and outside the centre. Alexis showed them a picture of her solar system project she had just finished and they were all amazed at how good it looked. Kate spoke a little about work, but was very careful knowing that young ears were at the table and both Rick and Jim shared a little about their week.

"So, are you ready for more hungry, hungry hippos?" Rick asked about fifteen minutes into their conversation.

Alexis looked over to Kate and rolled her eyes mouthing, "I told you" and Kate laughed.

"What?" Rick asked looking from his daughter to Kate.

"Nothing dad," Alexis said wide eyed.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me. Does it look like nothing to you Jim?"

Jim looked at the young girl and his daughter who were sharing some interesting looks. "No, it definitely does not look like nothing."

"Right," Rick said. "Out with it Alexis, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," she tried to sound innocent.

Rick turned his attention, "Kate?" and she responded with a shrug.

"Well, if no one is going to tell me, I'm going to have to tickle it out of you."

Alexis quickly looked up wide eyed. "No!" she shouted getting herself ready to make a run for it, because she knew what was coming. .

Rick reached out to grab his daughter but before, he got to here, she was out of her seat and was running to the other side of the room. Rick got up as fast as he could and chased after her. Jim and Kate just watched the crazy pair, who were attracting a lot of attention, and they couldn't help but laugh at their antics. Eventually, Rick caught Alexis and dangled her over his shoulder and carried her back to the table where the game was waiting.

When he sat down he spoke again, "so now will you tell me what was so funny?"

Alexis shook her head. Rick was actually quite proud of her, he had taught her well, so he looked over at Kate and gave her his best pleading face.

"Alexis told me you'd have the game ready and you'd want to start playing within the first 20 minutes. I said an hour. It seems I was way off and now I owe her a milkshake when I take her home."

"Oh, you're taking her back home too?"

"Is that okay? I mean, it just made sense. I'd have to go that way anyway."

"Yeah, it's fine. It just surprised me, that's all."

"So, are we going to play this game or not," Alexis jumped in.

They played a few rounds of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Jim was surprising everyone and won quite a few games, Rick lost almost every time and decided that everyone else must have been cheating. So on their final game, Alexis started to slow herself down and stopped trying to actually get the balls once half of them were gone and when Jim and Kate noticed they too stopped trying, and allowed the other man to win.

"It's not really winning, if you guys stop trying," he said defeated, "but thank you for letting me have one victory."

"How about we play a different game now?" Alexis asked.

"What game were you thinking?" he asked.

"Scrabble. You know you are good at that one. Words are your thing!"

"Really?" Kate said, starting to pack away the game in front of them. "We'll have to see about that won't we?"

"My Katie is pretty good with Scrabble too. She's always been quite a keen reader which I think helps."

Alexis snapped her head up and looked at her dad with wide eyes, but he responded by shaking his head signalling her not to say anything about his books. Kate and Jim were busy packing away the last of the game to notice the little exchange and Rick was relieved.

Jim walked over to the games cupboard and pulled out the old Scrabble board game. When he returned he could see his daughter and Rick both staring each other down.

"I've never met a man I couldn't take down in a game of Scrabble before," she was saying.

"Oh really?" Rick said with raised eyebrows,

"Really."

"Oh, it's on!"

"Okay, calm down you two," Jim cut in. "Let's get this game going then. Alexis, please tell me you're going to out play both of them. We can't let either of them win."

"I'll try," she responded, but she really wasn't sure she was going to be able to beat her father. She loved the game, but he was just too good at it. It didn't help that her vocabulary was limited, she was still only 10 after all.

Each of them had a couple of turns when all eyes fell on Alexis for her next turn. She carefully placed her letters on the board. C-A-S-T-L-E

Rick's eyes opened wide again and he looked at her shaking his head, this time it didn't go unnoticed by Kate who was a little puzzled at his reaction but decided that maybe Alexis had just put her word where he wanted to place his next work.

"What dad?" Alexis asked. "It's a good word. We're just playing scrabble, it's not like I'm telling everyone you're little secret."

Kate looked at her father who looked as confused as she was. "Did we miss something? What's wrong with the word Castle?"

"Nothing," Rick responded quickly. "You're right Alexis, that's a great word."

"It's an even better name," she said with a cheeky grin, and suddenly Rick knew what she was up to. She was trying to get him to tell Kate and Jim who he was.

Jim looked over to Alexis, "You know someone named Castle?" he asked.

"Of course, it's our name," and this time she looked over at her dad with an even bigger grin. "I'm Alexis Castle, and my dad is Ri…"

"Richard Castle?" Kate said wide eyed. "You're Richard Castle? The Richard Castle?"

Rick smiled guitily, "yeah, that would be me."

Kate just looked at him slack-jawed, unable to get any words out.

"Sorry," Rick continued. "I wasn't completely honest about who I was last week. It's just I didn't want it to get out to the media that I'm here, and I didn't really know you and it's just it's easier telling people I'm Richard Rodgers." He then looked over at Kate with a cocky grin, "so, by the look on your face, I take it you're a fan."

Kate knew her father would say something so before he got a chance she jumped in. "Well, I've read a couple of your books. But a fan? No." She couldn't have Rick knowing that she had read each of his books a number of times since her mother was killed. Now was not the time to tell him how they had helped her through the past few years.

She could not believe she had been playing board games with Richard Castle, and had gone out for ice cream with his family. She knew his face was familiar last week when she first met him and now she knows why.

"Well, since we've got that out of the way," Kate said, "how about we continue our game?"

They finished their game and ate lunch together but then Rick suggested that he and Alexis go outside for a while to give Kate and her dad some time alone.

Once Rick was far enough away to not overhear, Kate turned to her father. "Dad, did you know he was Richard Castle?"

"No, he didn't mention it. We've been talking all week. I knew he was hiding something, but I didn't expect it to be that."

"Wow. If mum was here she'd be so jealous," she said without thinking.

"If your mum was here, I wouldn't be," Jim said feeling the sadness come in again.

Kate noticed the sadness immediately, she knew it because she often felt it herself. "You know, you should be able to talk about her dad. You can't keep hiding it. You can't keep pretending. She's gone, and I miss her too, but when you get out of here, it's just going to be us, and I want to be able to talk to you. I want to be able to help you. Promise me we can talk about her. I have no one else to talk to about it."

"It's getting easier you know Katie. I've been sharing stories with Rick, and I know you wish it was with you, but for some reason it was more difficult to talk to you. I'm going to try though. I promise I will. You know I can go home next week right? It's up to me, they said if I don't feel ready, then I don't have to leave, but I can't stay here forever, and I've got you. I want to let you help me, I really do. So how about you come by and pick me up next week and we'll get through this together."

"Really? Next week. Of course I'll come pick you up and help you through the next phase." Kate reached up and hugged her father tight. She was still worried about him, but glad that he was well enough that they felt they could let him go home.

Another hour passed before Rick and Alexis reappeared.

"Well, it's just about time to go," Rick said as he reached Jim and Kate. "So, will we be seeing you next week Kate?"

"Actually," she said. "Dad told me that he can leave next weekend, so I'll be coming by to pick him up but I won't be staying long."

Alexis looked up at her with a sadness in her eyes. "So we won't be able to play board games with you again next week?"

"How about I stay for an hour or so before taking my dad home? It'll give me another chance to try and beat your dad at scrabble."

"Sounds good," Alexis said.

They all said their goodbyes and Kate and Alexis left.

Once they were gone, Rick turned to Jim with a great smile on his face. "That's great that you are able to leave next week. I haven't said anything to Alexis yet, in case things don't go as planned, but I'm pretty sure I'll be leaving then too. I don't want to get her hopes up you know, she's still really young."

"That's great, why didn't you tell me earlier?" the older man asked.

"I guess I didn't want you feeling bad if you had to stay, but if we're both leaving next week then that's perfect. I was going to take Alexis up to our house in the Hamptons to get away from the city for a while. Just have a couple of weeks of fun. It's a big house, if you want to join us you are more than welcome. And Kate too of course."

"Oh wow. You know I was considering going out to my cottage in the woods before getting back into the crazy city life, but it'd be good to have a friend around for those first few weeks. I'll see what Katie says, but she works quite a lot. She may not be able to join us for the entire time, but I'm sure she'd love to come up for a day or two. I'll think about it and let you know."

* * *

_**I kind of predict a couple of questions being asked now so I'm going to answer them before they come. **_

_**1. Why did I skip the whole week?  
The story isn't so much about Rick & Jim in rehab, it's about the healing outside of rehab with their families and the growing relationships between everyone. **_

_**2. Why didn't I include a scene with Beckett joining Martha and Alexis for icecream?  
I didn't feel like it was necessary. It wasn't pivotal and just put what needed to be there in this chapter. **_

_**Feel free to review... ask me other questions... if you want to, ask me how my day was, or how I like my potatoes... I'll answer just about anything, I'm just one of those random types :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Well, we've passed the 100 followers mark which is AWESOME! And here is the next chapter.I think this is possibly the shortest.  
**_

_**PS. I still don't own Castle. Never have and never will (unless something crazily unrealistic happens that puts it in my hands)**_

* * *

The next week felt like it went on forever. Rick knew that it was most likely due to the fact that he knew it could potentially be leaving on the weekend. He was excited to get home to his family. Jim felt the same. They had mentioned to each other during the week how thrilled they were to be able to finally get out and back to their own homes.

The men had spoken a number of times during the week, keeping up to date with each other about whether their plans were still going ahead, and on Friday it was confirmed. Both Jim and Castle were able to leave over the weekend. Martha was coming to collect Rick and Kate would come and get Jim on Sunday morning.

Rick had asked Jim multiple times if he had heard back from his daughter about joining them in the Hamptons, really hoping she would. Of course, it was for Jim, not for him. He wanted Jim to have his family there, and from what Rick had heard over the past two weeks, Kate was the only family he really had now.

When Sunday came along Martha was the first to arrive with Alexis. Alexis once again ran straight to Rick where he was waiting.

"Is it true? Are you really coming home?"

Rick wrapped his girl in his arms and spun her around. "Yes, I'm coming home."

When he put her down she held on to him tightly, she never wanted to let him go again, and Rick knew that she was never going to have to. He would not allow him to get to such a point in his life ever again where he would need to go into rehab. His daughter meant too much to him and he was always going to be there for her.

"I'm glad you're coming home too," Martha said as she reached her son and gave him a hug.

She usually didn't show much emotion towards Rick, and their greeting was often just a small kiss to the cheek, but he knew sometimes she needed more and this time he could see it in his mother's eyes. She was concerned and worried, but he also saw the love she had for him, and so he held her in their unusual hug and whispered in her ear. "I love you mother."

When Rick let go, he could see a few tears in his mother's eyes and he simply smiled at her, letting her know that he was going to be okay.

"So," Martha said with a deep breath, "have you got all your things, are you ready to go?"

"No grams," Alexis piped in. "We have to wait for Kate."

Martha looked at her son unsure as to why they had to wait.

"Kate promised she would stay for a game or two with us," he explained to Martha. Then he looked down at his daughter, "but that was before you knew we were both leaving today."

"Dad, we can't go until we see them," Alexis said adamantly.

Luckily, just as she spoke Kate walked into the room. She was still dressed in her NYPD uniform and Rick realised she must have been taking a break from work. 'That's so much hotter than I imagined,' he thought to himself as he waved her over.

Kate joined Rick and his family, but her eyes were looking around for her dad.

"Hi," she said as she reached them, and then she crouched down in front of the young girl. "I know I said I'd stay for a while today, but something came up at work and I have to get back as soon as possible, so I have to just pick up dad and go back. I'm sorry."

It surprised Rick that she cared enough for his daughter to apologise. He was surprised she even remembered what she had said last week. If it was him, he was sure he would have forgotten.

"That's okay, we get to take dad home today too. You'll have to join us at the loft some time and you can beat my dad at Scrabble on his home turf. You know that will be more humiliating for him," Alexis replied.

Kate laughed and looked nervously towards Rick. "We'll see Alexis." She really didn't know what was going to happen now that both her father and Rick were leaving the centre. Would they even remain friends? She wanted her dad to still have Rick to talk to, but without the need for family days at the centre, was there any need for her to be there when they caught up? Would they even catch up in person, or would they just talk over the phone? There were so many options that did not involve her, and she had to admit that she would have been a little sad if this was the end of their friendship. She had enjoyed her time with Rick and his daughter. Even the small amount of time she had spent with Martha had been great.

A moment later Jim joined them with his bags, and as he gave his daughter a hug, Rick wrote down some details on a piece of paper.

"I'm so glad you're better dad," Kate said smiling. "And you too," she said as she turned to Rick. She didn't know anything about why Rick was there or what he had been through but she knew he would be better for it, and for some reason that made her happy.

"Thanks Kate," Rick returned with a genuine smile that made Kate's heart almost skip a beat. The way he was looking at her made her feel almost giddy. She wasn't sure where the feeling had come from so she brushed it aside and tried her best to ignore it.

Castle passed over the paper he was holding to Jim. "This is my address at the Hamptons. Alexis, my mother and I are going to leave this afternoon but you'll be joining us tomorrow right?"

"Yes. And thank you again for inviting me."

"It's what friends do," Rick returned.

As Kate watched her father and Rick she couldn't believe that they had struck up such a great friendship in the short space of time, but she was glad for her dad. He had tried to convince her to join them in the Hamptons but she had said with work at the moment, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to get away. She was hoping to have the following weekend off to be able to go out and see her dad then, but sometimes it was difficult to know when she was going to be needed so she was unable to make any definite plans.

She got pulled out of her thoughts when Alexis spoke up.

"Kate, you're coming to the Hamptons too, aren't you?"

"I wish I could," she said, surprising herself when she realised just how true that statement was. "But I've got to work and I'm not sure I'll have much time." She felt her phone start to vibrate in her pocket. "I will try to come up for a few days though. And speaking of work I've got to get this." She pulled out her phone and took a few steps away. "Beckett."

"That is so cool how she answers her phone like that," Rick said. "I want to answer mine like that. Beckett," he said in imitation.

"What?" Jim said, looking at him with a funny expression. "You're going to answer the phone by saying someone elses name?"

"No, of course I'll use my own name. Castle. How awesome is that!" he said with maybe just a little too much excitement for someone his age.

"Seriously dad?" Alexis said rolling her eyes, and Rick just nodded.

Rick and Jim were discussing final details about the Hamptons when Kate rejoined them.

"Sorry guys, it looks like I have to take my dad and run. The captain wants to see me in his office in 30 minutes."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good," Rick said. "Is everything okay?"

"I guess I'll find out when I get there," Kate shrugged.

"Well, Kate, it was good seeing you again. And I really do hope you can make it out to the Hamptons next weekend."

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you too, and you Alexis," she winked towards to younger girl. "I'll let my dad know about next weekend when I can."

"Great," Rick exclaimed.

He watched as the Beckett's left before turning back to his family, noticing a mischievous grin on his mother's face.

"She's a lovely girl, Richard."

"Yes mother," he said knowing exactly what she was trying to hint at but, not wanting to throw flames onto the fire, he kept his mouth shut before saying anything else. The truth was, Kate was lovely. She was more than lovely. Before he could even think about the possibilities of what Kate could be to him though, he just wanted to be able to enjoy the company of his little girl who just seemed to be growing up too fast.

* * *

"Think about it Katie, we haven't been away together since… well you know when," Jim said to his daughter.

"I know, but it's not just us. It's the uh, Castle's as well. Don't you think it will be a little weird?"

"No, I don't think so. He said his place is plenty big enough for us, big enough that we can have space if we need it. But I think it's what both Richard and I need. We can be there for each other over these first couple of weeks, just incase we start to slip or if we just need to talk about things. They say it's good for us. Besides, I know you have tons of holiday leave. You haven't taken any leave since you started. Just promise me you'll think about it okay?"

"Okay, I promise I'll think about it," she said as they pulled up at the precinct. "Now are you sure you're happy to wait in the break room for a while. It's not really the ideal place to have to hang out after being in a rehab facility for a few months, but I didn't want to keep the captain waiting."

"I'll be fine."

They went into the precinct and after sending her father to the break room, Kate went straight to the captains office.

"Captain, you wanted to see me?" she said after gently tapping on the open door.

"Yes, Officer Beckett," Captain Montgomery said, "come take a seat."

Kate tentatively sat down in the seat opposite her captain, unsure of exactly why she was here.

"Hows your father?" he asked her.

"He's better."

"You just picked him up, is that right?"

"Yes sir, he's here in the break room."

"Luckily for him, he won't have to stay in there long. I'm sending you home."

"Oh, there's no need to do that," Kate insisted.

"Beckett, your father has been in rehab for the past few months and you have been working your butt off here. I insist that you take some time off and spend it with him. He will need you now more than ever. The first few weeks out of rehab is the most important. Family is important."

"But…" Kate tried to interrupt, but the captain did not let her get more than one word in.

"I will not be taking no for an answer. I have put it through to HR already, you are on two weeks leave starting tomorrow and I am letting you take the rest of today off. We have it covered here."

"Captain, really I…"

"No Beckett. Your dad will need you more than we do right now," he said with a stern tone but a smile on his face.

Kate realised the captain knew her better than she realised. He knew she would try and talk him out of it, so he had gone about and had it all pre-arranged and then wouldn't let her get a word in. She knew that what he was saying was all true, she did need to be there for her father, and her father wanted her there. It looked like she was going to be going to the Hamptons with them all after all.

"Well, thank you sir. Will that be all? Can I take my dad home now?"

"There is just one more thing."

"Yes?"

"We received your request for promotion to detective, and I've been looking over your file. It's very impressive. So I have made a decision."

"Yes?" she said, feeling nervous.

"When you get back from your holiday, you will be starting your training as a detective on our homicide team. That is, if you still want it."

Kate tried to hold back the excitement she was feeling. "Really. Thank you. Of course I want it. It's what I've wanted since joining the NYPD."

"Well, congratulations then Detective."

"Thank you, really, thank you."

"Now go get your father and get out of here," Montgomery said finally.

* * *

_**Told you we wouldn't be in the rehab centre forever... now we can get to the fun stuff!**_

_**Review if you feel the need or if you've got something to say :) **_

_**And a random question for anyone who wants to answer it... Are there any Lady Antebellum fans out there? I just got their new album yesterday and I love it!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Rick had rushed all the packing so they didn't catch the peak hour traffic and by mid afternoon Rick, Alexis and Martha had arrived at the Hamptons home.

They didn't have any plans for their first evening there, they were just going to settle in, have some dinner and relax.

After putting his bags in his room Rick walked out to the back porch and looked out at the large expanse of water in front of him. He had forgotten just how relaxing the ocean could be. The sound of the waves just filled him with a sense of calm. He knew he had made the right decision in coming out here.

He was alone just looking out at the water for a few minutes, until he was joined by his daughter, who wrapped her arms around her dad and hugged into his side. Rick returned the hug immediately.

"I'm really glad you're better now dad."

"Me too," he said and he bent over to place a kiss on the top of her head.

It was moments like this that he would always treasure. The moments between just the two of them and nothing else mattered. He loved his daughter more than anything, and he knew the last few months before he had gone into rehab had been difficult for her. He had made some silly mistakes, and wasn't always there for the way he should have been, but he was going to make it up to her. He had to.

"It's really pretty out here," Alexis said after a few moments of silence. "We should eat dinner outside. What do you think?"

"That sounds perfect," Rick said. "What do you feel like?"

"You know what I would love. Fish and Chips."

Rick laughed. "Really? Fish and chips?"

"Yeah," Alexis said with a grin. "I don't know something about being at the beach, it just makes me want…"

"Fish and chips," they both said together.

"Well, then that's what we will have," Rick said. "Let's go inside and see if grams would like to join us."

Martha said she would join them for dinner so they ordered fish and chips and she went to pick it up to let Rick and Alexis have some time together alone. While she was gone they found a picnic blanket and placed it out on the grass outside and caught up on everything that he had missed while he was in the centre.

"So, who is this Billy you keep mentioning?" Rick asked after Alexis told another story about things that had happened during the last few weeks at school.

"He's my friend at school."

"Oh really," Rick said teasing. "He's your friend, is he?"

Alexis gave him a strange look.

"Do you hold his hand?" he asked.

Alexis slapped her dad on the shoulder. "No dad! Boys are gross!"

"Hey!" he said, trying to look offended. "I'm not gross."

"You're my dad, it's different," she said.

Rick once again pulled her into his arms and gave her another hug. He had missed being able to do this with his daughter, he only hoped that he wouldn't begin to smother her.

Rick was glad that his daughter hadn't grown up too much in the time he was in rehab. He wasn't really gone for long but sometimes kids just grow up so fast. He was relieved to hear that she had not suddenly grown interest in boys and still thought they were gross. She was still the same little girl.

When Martha arrived with the food they all sat out on the blanket outside and ate together just enjoying being together again, and once they were finished they moved inside to watch a movie together.

Sitting on the couch with Alexis curled up next to him was something Rick had missed dearly. His daughter was such a loving girl with him, and she wasn't afraid to show it. He loved that about her, and he never complained even when it was extremely hot. If she wanted to snuggle up to him, he would let her.

After the movie, Alexis excused herself to go to bed. Rick let her go upstairs and left her for a few minutes knowing she would be getting changed and brushing her teeth and then he went up to say goodnight.

When he reached her bedroom, she was just settling into bed. He watched her for a moment from her doorway and when she spotted him, he gave her a gentle smile. It was a special smile that he saved just for her. He then tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead and wished her a good night sleep.

"I missed this," Alexis admitted as her father stood up.

"Me too," he admitted.

He then quietly left the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind him and made his way back downstairs to where his mother was waiting in the kitchen.

"How are you really, Richard?" she asked, sounding like she had been waiting to ask all day.

"I'm good mother, I'm doing much better, and glad to be back with my family again. Thank you for taking care of Alexis."

"Of course, someone had to do it, and I'm sure her mother wasn't going to."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, true. But I just want you to know that I do appreciate you. And I'm sorry that I put you through all of that stuff, and just thank you."

"I'm just glad you're feeling better kiddo."

Martha finished making hot chocolate for herself and Rick then took a seat next to him. "So…" she began. "Tell me about the friends we have joining us tomorrow. I know Kate but who is her father, Jim?"

"Actually, it'll just be Jim joining us. Kate had to work, but she's going to try and make out here to see her dad over the weekend."

"Oh right. And Jim? He's okay?"

"Yeah. He's a good man. We thought it would be good for us to have each other nearby these first few weeks out of rehab. You know, so if we feel like we need to talk, we can talk to each other."

"You know you can talk to me." Martha said. "I know I'm your mother and it's difficult, but I will do whatever I can to help make this easier for you."

"I know you will, but it's a different kind of support that we can offer each other. And I think Jim is going to need it more than me. I've got my family around me constantly. He's on his own most of the time. From what he was telling me, his daughter seems to work a lot."

"Yeah, she joined us for ice cream once. She's a lovely girl, did sound very busy though. I got the feeling that she makes herself that busy though. It's a shame she's not coming out here. It would have been nice to have her here."

"Yeah, it would." Rick said with a sigh.

The mention of Kate had Rick's mind thinking back to the few times he had spent with her. She really was a gorgeous woman. He definitely would not have any protests if she was able to and wanted to come to the Hamptons with her father. Seeing her arrive in her cop uniform that morning was great, but if she came out here, then he might even get to see her in a bikini, and that's something he certainly would not be complaining about.

"Richard, what are you picturing in your head?"

Rick had gotten lost in his mind and started trying to picture Kate in a bikini. He had completely forgotten his mother was next to him and must have had a look on his face that gave him away.

"Maybe it's a good thing this Kate isn't coming."

Rick just turned his head and looked at his mother wide eyes. "Why?"

"Because I'm your mother, so I know exactly what's going on in your mind right now."

* * *

"Dad, don't you think you should call them before you arrive, just to let them know I'm coming," Kate said sitting nervously in the car the next day, as they left her apartment for the Hamptons.

"No, Rick said there's plenty of room. It'll be fine."

"But you know I'd feel better if you called."

"Nonsense, Katie. Just enjoy the trip. We'll be there before you know it."

Kate sat back in her seat and did as her father asked. She had placed a book in her bag knowing that the drive was going to be a couple of hours and when she pulled it out she laughed at the one she had chosen without thinking. 'In A Hail of Bullets by Richard Castle'. She hadn't even realised when she put it in her bag, but there was no way she was going to be taking that book inside. The author himself didn't need to see her with it at all.

She turned to the back of the book and staring back at her was the man himself, and all she could think to herself about was how much better he looked in person. Upon realising what she had thought, she quickly turned the book over and opened to the first page and started reading.

After a while she turned to look at her father. He was more relaxed than she had seen in a while. His couple of months in rehab had really done wonders for him. The last memory she had of him before he went in was him passed out in front of the door of her apartment with a brown paper bag, covering an almost empty bottle of alcohol, in his hand. She was hoping she would never have to see him like that again, she hoped with all she had that those days were over.

Eventually, she spoke up again. "So, all that time in the centre, and nobody knew that Rick was Richard Castle? Not a single person even recognised him at all?"

"No, I guess not."

"Hmmmm…." She looked at the picture on the back of the book again. She was quite surprised she hadn't recognised him herself. He had these eyes that just shone, how could she have not noticed them. "And you're sure you really had no idea until Alexis told us?"

"I'm sure," he said quickly looking over to her so she could see that he wasn't hiding anything. "He mustn't have had any fans there."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Although, he did say that until he spoke with me, after you told him to," he quickly looked over and raised his eyebrows at Kate, who then shrugged, "he hadn't spoken to anyone else," Jim continued. "And in those last few weeks, I think I may have been the only one he did speak to, other than the counsellors. And I imagine if they were aware of exactly who he was they would probably have signed some sort of confidentiality contract or something."

"That makes sense. But don't you think it's kind of surreal. I mean, here we are, just two ordinary people, suddenly joining famous novelist Richard Castle in his holiday beach house in the Hamptons? It's crazy, of all the things that could happen in life, I really never expected this to happen. He's Richard Castle and we are just Jim and Kate… he's Richard freakn' Castle," she said holding up the book facing the back picture to her father.

Jim took his hand off the steering wheel for a second and pushed the book down. "Watch out Katie, you're starting to sound like you could be one of those crazy fan girls. You don't want, what did you call him, Richard freakn' Castle, to know just how much you enjoy his books do you?"

"I'm not a crazy fan girl"

Jim raised his eyebrows as if to say 'oh-really'.

"What? I'm not. I've read his books, so what? Lots of people have. And I wouldn't be talking about him so much if you hadn't become such great friends with him, chose to go away to his beach house with his family, and convinced me to come with you."

"You know it was your fault when you asked him to be my friend."

Kate knew he was right. There was no way she could get around this. No matter what way she put it, this was her fault. So she chose to stay silent.

Even if it was her fault though, she wasn't sure it was a bad thing. She was a little nervous about spending the time in a strange house with people she barely knew, but after all it was the Castle's and that excited her. Alexis and Martha had both been really lovely on previous occasions she knew they weren't going to be difficult. But she still didn't really know them. Not to mention Richard, she knew the guy that the papers talked about, but he didn't seem to be that guy. He was more a fun family man, not a playboy. Who was the real Richard Castle, the one in the magazines, or the one that she had met at the rehab centre?

And then let's not forget that he was even in rehab. What had he done? She had to remember though, that just because he had been in rehab didn't make him a bad person. If she thought that about him, then what did that mean she thought of her own father? People make mistakes, obviously Richard had too, but knowing that he had spent time in rehab made him a better person in her eyes. It meant that he actually cared about something more than himself, and she guessed it was his daughter. Suddenly, she understood how easy it must have been for both her father and Rick to become close friends. They both had daughters. Yes they were at different stages in their lives but it was common ground for them. Both had gone into rehab because they had their daughters to think about.

Looking over at her father again, she felt a sense of joy, understanding and love for him. "Hey dad," she said.

"Yes Katie."

"I'm glad you chose not to throw away your life anymore."

She felt a tear leave her eye not even realising that it had gathered there. She was just so happy to have her dad back. The captain was right to send her away from work. She needed this time with him, and if that meant spending time with Richard Castle and his family, then that's what she would do.

* * *

**Next chapter... let the fun begin :)**

**Again, review or don't. Follow or don't. Favourite or don't. **

**It's mothers day in Australia today... don't forget to thank your mum for all she does for you!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**The fun begins...**_

* * *

After just over 2 hours Kate and Jim were finally pulling up to the address Rick had given them. They had switched places halfway when Kate was worried her dad was getting tired so now she was at the wheel pulling into the long driveway.

"Wow!" she exclaimed when she saw the home. "Are you sure this is the place?" she asked.

"Well, this is the address I was given, so I guess so. He did say it was spacious."

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting… this."

Jim was the first to get out of the car and walked around to get their bags from the back.

Kate took a little longer as she couldn't help but stare at the huge place in front of her. And it was, right on the beachfront. She was at Richard Castle's beach house. It was unbelievable. She was suddenly feeling more excited to be there and extremely glad the captain told her to take leave.

Neither of the two visitors saw the small head poke out from behind a curtain in the front room. Alexis had heard the car pull up and checked to see if it was Jim. When she noticed that Kate had come too, she ran straight out the door and towards them.

Kate got quite a surprise when the young girl unexpectedly slammed into her body and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Kate, you made it!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Yeah, it turns out I was due to take some leave from work."

Kate moved around to the side of the car, remembering she had placed a bag behind the front seat, just as Rick came out the front door. He was unable to see Kate while she was bent over looking for something that had rolled out of the bag.

"Ah Jim, you made it, can I he…" he paused when he saw someone else stand upright next to the car. "Kate? I wasn't expecting you," he said surprised.

"See dad, I told you, you should have called," she said to her father then turned her attention to Rick. "I hope it's ok that I'm here."

"Oh yes, yes," Rick said smiling. "It's great. I just, I'm surprised. I thought you had work. We've got plenty of room for you, I'm glad you could make it. It's gonna be awesome!"

He couldn't take his eyes off the woman standing there. He knew she wasn't there for him, she was there for her dad. But she was there, and that made him happier than it probably should have. He watched as she brushed some of her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear while she fiddled with her bag that she still hadn't taken from the car. She was beautiful, he had known that from the moment her first saw her, but right then, there was something more, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his embrace. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair, feel her finger tips on his skin and feel her lips on his. That's not why he was here though, and he knew he couldn't allow his mind to wander off to these places too often. Maybe he would write about it, surely that would help him. He's already started writing ideas that included her. From the moment he first saw her, she inspired him. Now she was inspiring him in other ways.

"Hey dad," Alexis said, causing Rick to snap out of his trance like state. "You might wanna be a gentleman and help with the bags."

"Coming,"

Rick walked around to the back of the car where Jim was finding the lightest bag for Alexis. Alexis took the bag and said she would take it straight up to Jim's room.

Once Alexis was out of earshot Jim turned to Castle. "Am I going to have to keep my eye on you? Don't forget… she's my daughter," he said with a serious look on his face.

Rick realised his staring at Kate mustn't have gone unnoticed and now he was a little scared of Jim. He swallowed and nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

He didn't even finish his sentence when Jim slapped him on the shoulder laughing. "I was joking."

"Oh," Castle was relieved.

"But, even so, she _is_ my daughter."

Jim had spoken just loud enough for Castle to hear but not Kate as she came around the back of the car to join them.

"You're really taking your time with those bags? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Rick said staring between Jim and Kate. "Nothing at all. We're just waiting for you before we go inside. Let me show you to… ah…. I'll let Alexis show you to your room." He turned to Jim wih a smile and a nod, "I'll show you where your room is."

Why was he now feeling so nervous? He had been fine all morning. He knew Jim was coming to join them. Oh, but Kate wasn't. And now Kate is there, and he's feeling all these things that he wasn't expecting and Jim is beginning to scare him. He'd never before felt so uncomfortable in his own home.

Kate looked confused but followed the men into the house, making it through the door just as Alexis reappeared.

"Alexis, can you show me where to put my stuff?" she asked the young girl, "Our father's are acting weird."

Alexis giggled and then happily lead Kate to her room while Rick took Jim to his.

* * *

After placing their bags in their rooms, Kate and Jim were given the tour of the house by Alexis and Rick.

The way the pair spoke, Kate could have sworn they had it all planned out and wondered how many times they had rehearsed what they were going to say.

"And now we come to the final part of the tour," continued Alexis. "And my favourite part, the swimming pool. Dad, I don't think I need you for this," she said shooing him away.

"Fine," huffed Rick. "I guess I'll go find mother and see what we're going to eat today."

"Now, before we go around to the pool," Alexis continued, "would you like to know why I love the pool so much?"

Kate felt like Alexis was stalling but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Was Alexis afraid of the water?

"Sure, tell us why you like the pool," Kate said nodding.

"Well, when I was just a little thing, about 6 or so, I went swimming with a friend. My friend went swimming all the time, so she was really used to the water. She could swim really well and everything so as soon as we got to the pool, she ran and jumped into the deep end. I was maybe a little bit too confident and decided to follow and only realised how deep it was when it was too late. I couldn't swim, and so I was struggling in the water and even though my friend was a good swimmer, she was only little so she couldn't help me. Luckily one of the other older kids around us saw me and helped me get to the edge, but after that I decided I never wanted to go swimming again. It was too scary."

"So, what you're really saying is that the pool really isn't your favourite part of the tour?" Kate asked puzzled.

"Oh no, it's my favourite."

"Well, I'm confused," Jim said and Kate nodded.

"When I got home I told dad all about what had happened and so the next week, he cancelled all his plans. I'm pretty sure he had a few chapters due for a book, but he didn't care. He brought me out here, to this house and he taught me to swim in this pool. I cried quite a lot at first because I was scared, but dad made it safe. He held onto me as I got used to the water, and he didn't let go until I was ready. He didn't push me to do anything I didn't want to and in the end we had an amazing time in the pool and we were playing games, and I was no longer afraid. So now, when I come out to the pool, I think back of the great time I had with my dad when he put everything else aside just for me so that I didn't have to be scared anymore."

Kate was quite taken aback by the feelings that she felt while Alexis told them the story. Rick seemed to be a really good father, and he didn't seem to let his rich, fancy lifestyle get in the way of him being a dad. She knew she was already beginning to like the guy, she couldn't stop herself, he was quite charming, and if she was honest with herself, she had to admit he was rather ruggedly handsome. But after hearing this story, she began to like him just that little bit more. She didn't plan on it. Nobody plans on really liking someone, it just happens, but she wasn't expecting this. She knew it wasn't a good time to act on anything she felt for him though. She was meant to be there for her dad, who had just gotten out of rehab. Rick had just gotten out of rehab too, the last thing he needed was a woman coming after him. She knew she just had to keep her feelings to herself. What she didn't realise was just how hard that was going to be over the next week or so.

The three eventually found their way to the gate entrance to the pool. Alexis entered first running towards the opposite end.

"Just wait there," she called behind her as they reached one end of the pool. "Dad put in these really cool lights in the pool so it changes colour, I just have to go turn them on."

Just as Alexis finished talking she disappeared behind a tree. Kate heard someone running up behind her and she immediately went into self-defence mode. When she knew they were close she turned, bent forwards and threw the person over her shoulder and into the pool.

As soon as she heard the person enter the water she turned to see who it was only to see Rick splashing about, coughing and spluttering. She just shook her head at him and laughed, she should have known it would have been him. He did look kinda cute now though, his hair dangling over in his face. And with his shirt clinging to his arms and body she could see the outline of what looked to be quite a manly figure. Not overly muscular, but manly, just the way she liked it. She took a deep breath in and out and turned away. She had to control her thoughts.

When Alexis heard the splash, she came back from the pool light switches and saw her dad splashing around in the pool fully clothed. He had obviously forgotten that Kate was a police officer and his plan to get her in the pool fully clothed had failed. She lost it laughing at him as he pouted in her direction.

"Looks like you underestimated her dad," Alexis said walking back towards the pool.

"So," Kate said looking between Rick and Alexis. "That whole story was just a ploy? To give me some sort of sense of, I don't know, safety or calmness? And the whole time you just planned on pushing me in the water fully clothed?"

"Uhhh… something like that," Rick said shrugging as he made his way to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

"But the story was still true," Alexis said. "It's not good to lie. And besides, I wouldn't lie about times with me and my dad. We have tons of good stories. Maybe I'll be able to tell you some others later."

"That would be nice," Kate said looking at the young girl with a smile.

Jim had just been standing there watching the whole thing happen around him. He knew he was in for an interesting couple of weeks if this is what it was going to be like. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rick creeping towards the edge of the pool where Kate was still standing. He could have warned Kate but, he decided to join in on the fun and chose to distract her instead.

"So Katie," he said turning to his daughter. "Aren't you glad you decided to join us now? Just think of what you'd be missing out on. The big house, the pool, pushing Richard into the pool, even if it wasn't the plan and hey, you'd even miss out on being pulled in the pool yourself."

Just as he said it, Rick had reached her side wrapped his arms around her waist and he jumped back into the pool with her in his arms.

After splashing around in the pool for a few seconds, Kate eventually got away and simply glared at Rick.

"Uh oh dad, looks like you're in trouble," Alexis said. "I think we should go inside," she said to Jim as she grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the house.

"Well, even if I did end up in the pool myself, I wouldn't say my plan was a complete failure. I got you in," Rick tried joking, but Kate's glare didn't falter. She was walking towards him, her eyes never leaving his, it was actually beginning to frighten him a little.

"But um, I guess, maybe I should go get you a towel," he said shakily and he turned away from her, unable to take any more of her glaring.

Kate was speedy in the pool, and Rick wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she had caught up with him just as he reached the edge.

"Not so fast," she said as she grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around to face her.

Kate begun to back him into the corner of the pool so that he was unable to escape and now that she was closer, he wasn't sure the glare was quite as scary, there was something else there. Was that arousal? Had being thrown into the pool actually caused excitement within the woman? No, surely it couldn't have. But the way she was looking at him, and the way she just kept coming closer, he really couldn't be sure anymore. Jim's words echoed in his head, 'don't forget, she's my daughter', and he knew he had to stop her before she got him into trouble. But he was left paralysed by her gaze, he couldn't move and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

He took a deep breath in as her face came closer to his, and then her lips were right next to his ear. "I _will_ get you back for that Mr Castle," she said softly in his ear in a tone that Rick could only describe as playful and seductive. And then she pushed herself away and found her way to the steps out of the pool.

As she stepped away Rick let out the breath he had been holding. There was silence for a few seconds while he tried to figure out what just happened, and then he realised what she called him. Mr Castle.

"Mr Castle?" he called out as he finally made his way out of the pool himself. "I like that, but can we drop the Mr?"

Kate turned and raised her eyebrows at him. "Castle?"

"Yeah, I like it."

"I dunno. It kinda reminds me of work. You know the surname thing. And I'm meant to be on holidays."

"Pleeeeeease," he begged.

"Fine. Castle it is," she said shaking her head, probably giving in a little too quickly, but it did sound good, and rolled off the tongue quite nicely.

"So, I can call you…" he ran through moments in his head, surely he knew what her surname was, but his mind had gone blank. He knew he knew it, why couldn't he remember when it mattered? He heard a small laugh from in front of him and he knew Kate was watching him as he searched his memory for a name.

"C'mon Castle," she said and again she continued her walk towards the house.

"Beckett! I'll call you Beckett!" he called out after her.

"Fine. Just, will you hurry up and get me a towel. I'm starting to get cold here."

"Sorry," he said and he quickly went about finding two towels for them.

* * *

_**Here is some random information for you all... I have a pretty awesome 2 pack happening. I'm rather proud of it. Most people want a 6 pack but seriously c'mon who wouldn't be happy with a 2 pack! HAHA**_

_**I rather enjoy random information so if you'd like to leave a review please do, and if you'd like to share some random information of your own with me... then please do that too. Or if you have random questions you would like to ask me... I seriously will answer just about anything, coz I'm just that type of person and I've decided I've got nothing to hide. :)**_

_**Well, that's all for now... I'll see you with more Family Healing in a couple of days :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks again for all the follows, favourites and reviews. Everyone here is amazing! Even if you don't think you are, you are!**_

_**Disclaimer (Because I don't know if I've done one, and I probably should) - I don't own Castle. If I did, I'd be talking to the tv people here in Australia and tell them to hurry up and decided when they're going to play the show and then leave it there rather than show 2 episodes then stop showing it again... sooooo frustrating! Anyway, that was my disclaimer / rant. **_

_**Here's the next chapter... Fun, then some seriousness.. then some more fun coz that's what I do. **_

* * *

When Kate woke in the morning she knew there was something unusual about what she was holding on to. It was definitely not the way she was used to waking up that's for sure. She opened one eye and looked around and then remembered that she was in the Hamptons with her dad, Castle and his family. At some point during the night, she had grabbed a spare pillow and was now hugging it to her chest. She couldn't remember the last time she had woken up hugging a pillow and she couldn't remember having any dreams so she really wasn't sure what would have caused her to reach for it in the night. She pushed the pillow aside and slowly climbed out of bed.

When she walked over to her window she was met with the most beautiful view. The sun was still rising but she could see the gentle waves in the distance as they washed over onto the shore. There were two people out there dancing. She couldn't see who they were, all she could see was their silhouettes. It was really quite cute, one was much taller than the other, and the taller spun the other around under their arm, and then they went back to dancing on their own. They weren't completely graceful, but it was sweet.

She would have stayed there watching them longer but she realised that her bladder required emptying, so she took herself to the bathroom and while she was there she brushed her teeth and her hair and made herself somewhat presentable to whoever may be up. She didn't expect that anyone would be, it was still really early, but she couldn't be sure.

Making her way down the stairs she realised her suspicions were correct, everybody else still appeared to be sleeping. She wasn't going to wait for everyone else to get up before finding something to eat because she had no idea how long that would take. Castle had been so kind letting her and her father stay with him and his family, the least she could do was make breakfast for them. Looking around though, it seemed like they hadn't really done much shopping since they arrived. It looked as though they had just been ordering in.

She remembered seeing a small 24 hour corner store on her way in, that was only a couple of blocks away, and she was sure they would at least have the ingredients for pancakes. She went upstairs quickly threw on a pair of sneakers and her running outfit, and made a decision to run along the beach to the store, and then walk back with the groceries.

Upon making her way down to the beach she found that the two dancing people were still there. As she got closer she heard one of them shout out to her.

"Kate, come and dance with us!"

It was Alexis. She was out with her father, dancing like two crazy people on the beach. Kate couldn't help but laugh inwardly. After seeing the way that Castle had been with his daughter previously, she really wasn't surprised he was out there with her.

"Do you do this every morning?" she asked the two of them.

"No, not every morning," Alexis said. "Just when I wake up early. It's a good way to start the day. Smiling, happy and having fun."

"And your father doesn't complain?"

"Well, he used to," she said looking at her father, "But then it became our thing, and now he enjoys it just as much as me."

"You really should try it," Rick chimed in.

"Maybe another time, I was just about to go for a run to the corner store. I was planning on making breakfast but it seems nobody has done any food shopping, so I'll bring back ingredients for pancakes."

"Oh, do you mind if I come too?" Alexis asked.

When they had first begun talking, Castle had noticed Kate's outfit and could see she was planning on going out for some exercise. Honestly, how could you not notice a woman dressed that way when she looked as good as Kate did? He figured that she probably wouldn't want his daughter slowing her down.

"Alexis, I think Kate might want to go on her own. She does this all the time, you wouldn't want to slow her down."

"Don't be silly," Kate said. "Alexis I would love for you to join me. At least I'll have less chance of getting lost with someone who knows the area better than me."

"Oh," Rick said, "If you're worried about getting lost, maybe I should come to."

"No dad," Alexis shook her head. "I think we'll be fine without you."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you slowing us down," Kate added with a sly grin.

"I'll just go get my shoes," Alexis said and ran off towards the house.

"You know, you really don't have to take her with you," Rick said walking to stand in front of Kate.

"I know, but it'll be nice to have some company on my run. I always go on my own and sometimes it's nice to have someone else there, even if it does mean I have to go slower than usual."

"Well, if you want some company another day, I'd be more than happy to be your running partner."

Kate thought about it for a moment, going running with Richard Castle. Before now she would never have even saw it as a possibility, and here he was standing in front of her, looking at her with his gorgeous eyes and goofy smile, offering to be her running partner.

"Yeah, in your dreams Castle," Kate said with a laugh, knowing she had probably been standing there gazing up into his eyes for a little too long. "There's no way you would be able to keep up with me."

She really had no idea whether her statement was true or not. She was fit and she knew she could run quite far fairly quickly, but she had no idea what his fitness level was like. The more she thought about it though, the more she found herself becoming oddly curious about it. Maybe she would take him up on that offer another day.

"You never know, Beckett," Castle said stepping closer and leaning over to whisper in her ear, "one day, I might just surprise you. I have been known to have fantastic stamina."

As he turned to walk away, Beckett let out the breathe she didn't realise she was holding and bit down on her bottom lip. Maybe one day she could find out a little more about his stamina, but right now she had to focus, and stop thinking of him inappropriately, especially when she was just about to go out alone with his daughter.

She watched him as he walked back up towards the house stopping only to wrap Alexis in a brief hug before she came back down to meet Kate on the beach and again, she found herself in awe of the relationship he and Alexis had. It really was beautiful.

* * *

On their way to the corner store, Kate kept a steady pace but always kept watch on Alexis to make sure she was keeping up without over doing it. She was actually fairly surprised at the girls fitness level. They didn't speak all that much as the jogging took most of their breath away but on the way back as they walked with the groceries they were able to strike up a conversation.

"So, do you and your dad come out here often?" Kate asked.

"We try to, but sometimes it's hard. He likes to write out here, but it's too far from the city where all his meetings and other things take place so we usually come out here when he knows he's got time and he gets a chunk of writing down. Plus I have school in the city."

"Will he be writing while you're here this time?"

"No, I don't think so. He said he just wants to spend time with me and have some fun. He feels bad that he left me for a while when he went to rehab, and I think he feels like he has to make it up to me."

"Yeah, that makes sense. He cares about you."

"I know he does, but I just don't want him to think that he owes me anything. He made some mistakes and yes, he had to go to rehab and left me with grams but you know what? I'm really happy that he did that. We all make mistakes and well, he did the right thing and did something about it. He made himself better for me and he's happy again, and that's all that I want. Knowing that he is happy, that he's going to be around and he isn't sick any more, that's enough for me. I don't need these fancy holidays, but I let him spoil me because I know it makes him happy."

For a young girl, Alexis could really be quite the grown up, and it was more obvious in the times when Castle wasn't around. Kate thought that Alexis acted that way on purpose, so that Castle didn't have to feel as if she was growing up so much.

"Alexis, your dad is really lucky to have you, do you know that? Not many kids your age would have that understanding, but have you told your dad how you feel?"

"Not exactly. It's hard."

"The things that need to be said are often the hardest."

Kate watched as Alexis processed the words she had just heard. She stayed silent for a moment, giving her space to think about everything.

"You know what," Kate said after a few minutes, "I think we are all going to have an amazing time on this little getaway."

"Yeah, we really are," Alexis responded.

* * *

While Kate showered, Castle and Alexis found everything they needed to get the pancakes under way. Castle asked how their run went and Alexis said she really enjoyed it. She wasn't ready to have the talk with her dad about things they spoke about on the way home, she wanted to wait for the right time.

When Kate came downstairs freshly showered and dressed, she switched places with Alexis in the kitchen as Alexis went up to shower.

"Did you enjoy your walk?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I did actually. It was nice.

"And Alexis, she was okay?"

Kate nodded, but when she looked at Rick he could see that he wasn't just talking about the walk. She walked over to him so she could look him in the eye as she spoke. She knew it would be easier for Rick to accept what she was saying if he could see the honesty on her face.

"Alexis is doing fine. She's worried about you, but that's understandable. It's the same way I worry for my dad. She's really looking forward to these few weeks out here with you and don't beat yourself up over the past, just focus on the now. Everything and everyone will be fine."

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

Kate was just about to turn and walk back to the bench where the ingredients were prepared when Rick stopped her.

"Kate," he said placing his hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving away. "How are _you_ doing?" It wasn't enough to know that Alexis was doing okay, he wanted to make sure Kate was happy too.

"I'll be completely honest with you," she said as she turned. "It's hard. I worry a lot about my dad, but we're going to have a great holiday and we're going to get through this," she paused.

"Together," both Rick and Kate said simultaneously.

"You shouldn't worry about me though Castle. You've got your own family, I'll be fine."

"Hey, when I say together, I mean it. We're all doing this together, okay? I think you being here is helping Alexis and my mother, and they're helping you. I don't think there is anyone here who isn't helping everyone else in one way or another. Maybe it's just a smiling face, the support, or encouragement we each bring but we all bring something special. Alexis, my mum, your dad, me and you, we do this together."

"Okay. You know what else we can do together, right now?"

"Oh, I can think of so many things Beckett," Rick said. "But, I'm not really sure it's appropriate here, not when any one of our family members could walk down those stairs any minute."

Suddenly all his seriousness had flown out the window and he was back to Castle, the joker. Kate really wasn't sure how he could flick the switch from one to the other so quickly.

"Castle!" Kate said and pushed him away, then turned towards the ingredients again, "I mean we could make these pancakes together."

"I know," Castle said smugly, then he just stood and watched as Kate found her way around the kitchen. He was impressed when she broke the egg into the mixture with one hand, just like the professional chefs he had seen on tv.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch Castle, or are you actually going to help?" Kate said after a moment.

"Sorry," he said. "What can I do? Don't say help with the eggs because I'm enjoying watching how you break them with one hand. Seriously, you have to teach me that one day."

Kate ignored the comment about the eggs. She was beginning to feel extremely hungry and she was not in the mood for anymore chit chat, she just wanted to get the pancakes ready.

"Can you measure out the flour Castle?"

"Yes sir," he said and he got to work. He put one cup of flour into the mixture and got to work on the second. "I have to admit I really do like this Castle business. It makes me feel like I really could be a cop or something."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't you feel that way when people call you Beckett?"

"Yeah I guess, the difference being, I _am_ a cop," she said taking the whisk from the bench and mixing the flour into the wet ingredients.

"Okay, you got me there."

They continued moving about in the kitchen without further conversation, just watching and anticipating each other's moves allowing them to get the pancakes and coffee made and ready to eat before the others came downstairs.

"Coffee?" Castle asked, handing Beckett a freshly made cup.

"Thanks," she responded taking the mug and enjoying the smell making its way to her nose.

"Is that all the mixture finished?" he asked pointing to the bowl.

"Uh," Kate picked up the bowl and looked into it. "Yeah it appears to be."

Before Castle knew what was happening, Kate placed the bowl on the top of his head and he had the last drops of mixture running down his face.

"Then again," she said laughing. "I could have been wrong."

Kate wasn't sure what made her do it, it was quite unlike her to do something like that, but she had to admit that it was fun, and the look on Castle's face made it worthwhile.

Just as she finished speaking, Martha came down from her room upstairs.

"Richard, what are you doing?"

"It wasn't me, it was Kate."

"Now, now," Martha said disbelieving. "I'm sure we all know that you are the only one here capable of such childish behaviour."

At that, Kate's laughter picked up even more, she couldn't help it, the look on Castle's face was priceless. Everyone was turning against him.

Kate moved over and took the bowl off Castle's head. "There, there Castle. No need to get upset." She grabbed some paper towel from the bench and started to wipe some of the mixture that had dropped onto his face.

There was silence between them as Rick stood there not sure whether to move or not. Kate was right there in front of him, gazing up into his eyes. Why did they keep putting themselves in this position? As she wiped at his face, he couldn't take his eyes away from hers, and he could see she was struggling to stop herself from doing the same.

Placing his hand over hers on the paper towel that was still removing mixture from his face, he took charge, "I should go upstairs and get cleaned up," he said.

As soon as he spoke, Kate snatched her hand away and stepped away from his body immediately missing the heat that had been radiating between them. She hadn't even noticed they had been standing so close. Day 2 of this holiday and already things were proving to be much harder than she expected. What was it about this man that made him so damn attractive?

Rick left the kitchen and took himself up to his bathroom. What had just happened? Nothing. Nothing had happened. But was something going to happen? He didn't know, and it wasn't the first time he'd felt it. It was like there was a magnetic force that just kept drawing them towards one another, but he couldn't. This was not the time or place to be thinking about things like that. His daughter, he needed to think about his daughter, that's the reason for being there.

Not wanting to let the pancakes get too cold he ran his head under the shower without getting in completely, he would have a proper shower after breakfast. He did his best at getting the mixture out of his hair and off his face then went back downstairs to join the others for breakfast.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs Alexis called him outside. They had set up the pancakes and their toppings outside in the fresh air. 'Good idea' he thought. Fresh air was exactly what he needed.

Kate was being extremely quiet and Rick noticed that she kept her face down as they ate. It was obvious she was trying not to look at him. Jim sat next to her completely oblivious to everything that had gone on that morning. Any time they had found themselves in an eye lock, Jim had not been around, and for that Rick was glad. Jim had enough to worry about, Rick didn't want to be the cause of further worry in his life.

* * *

_**Review? Well, that's up to you isn't it? :)**_


	8. Chapter 8

"Ooooh, I think you've finally met your match dad," Alexis stated as she calculated the points just scored by Kate. "With the triple word and double letter, that's 108 points for zombify. Good job Kate."

Rick sat there simply staring at the woman opposite him.

"What?" Kate said. "Scared of a little competition, Castle?"

He shook his head. "No. I am just surprised at your choice of word, Beckett. Zombify? I find that so…" Before finishing his sentence he looked around him realising all eyes were on him, including Jim's. Maybe finishing his sentence with the word 'hot' was not appropriate right now, "very interesting," he finished.

"Interesting? Something tells me that's not what you were thinking at all," Kate challenged.

Rick swallowed, looking back towards Jim who still had his eyes on him, and it looked like his eyes were thinning. What was this woman doing to him? It wasn't fair. She was purposely encouraging him to say the wrong thing in front of her father. Well, two could play at this game.

"Really? What did you think I was thinking?" he threw back at her.

By the look on her face it was obvious she had not expected him to turn it back to her. "I… don't…. know" she said scrunching up her face. Ok, so he won this round but she was still beating him in their scrabble game.

"Jim, I think it's your turn," Martha said once Rick and Kate had stopped eyeing each other over the table.

Ten minutes later the game had finished and Alexis was finalising the scores. As expected, Kate had beaten Rick. With a great smile on her face she turned to him. "So, the writer himself, the man of words, is beaten by the cop."

"I don't know how you did it, but I know you cheated," he said with a huff.

"Oh, and he's a sore loser too?" she teased and pouted her bottom lip.

Alexis and Martha both laughed, while Jim sat there a little shocked at his daughter's behaviour. She had never really been a gloater before, she was always such a gracious winner. He wasn't sure what it was about this man that brought this side out of his daughter, but he enjoyed seeing the more playful side of her. She was smiling and having fun, and he hadn't seen that in years. Since his wife died, Kate had been so serious, and distant and focused on her job. He was glad she was finally enjoying life again.

"Well, since you're all going to be mean to me, I'm going to get myself a soda, and I'm not getting any of you anything," he said as he stood up from his seat and started making his way towards the kitchen.

When he was out of sight, Kate turned to the others. "You don't think I really upset him do you?" she asked.

Alexis was the first to answer. "No, he just does that, he's fine. He tries to make you feel bad for winning. It never works with me anymore."

Kate laughed, "Well, I think I might go get myself a drink anyway, would anyone else like one?"

It wasn't that she was thirsty, she actually was worried about Castle. Not because she had beaten him at Scrabble, but because she had teased him. What if she hit a nerve and he wasn't strong enough to take it? Although when she thought about it, they'd been teasing each other since they got there, Alexis was probably right.

She made it to the kitchen just as Rick was closing the fridge door with his foot and he turned to reveal he was carrying five cans of soda in his arms.

"Wow, you must be thirsty Castle," Kate said.

"You didn't really think I'd come in and get just myself a drink now did you?"

"Well, kinda… yes"

Rick laughed. "Seriously?"

Kate shrugged. "You're a difficult man to read," she said taking the cans from his arms and placing them on the bench before he dropped them all.

"You think I'm difficult? I'm not the only one."

"No, you're not difficult, just hard to read. I don't know if you're serious or joking. I don't know whether I should keep a straight face or laugh with you or just I don't know what to do with you."

Rick smiled. Being a pain in the ass sometimes had its perks he thought.

"Wait a minute," Beckett said suddenly. "You think I'm difficult?"

The look on her face told Castle she was not only shocked but hurt at the very thought.

"That's not what I meant at all. It's like you said. You think I'm difficult to read, you are too. You have this mystery about you. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but sometimes you look at me with this intensity and I don't know if it's because you're about to yell at me and hit me or if you're about to kiss me. Not that I would complain if you did, just as long as it's not in front of Alexis or your father… or my mother actually."

By this point, Kate couldn't help but smile, and she felt herself blush a little but, she had absolutely no idea what Rick was going on about. Kiss him? He actually thought that there were times she was going to kiss him?

"Let me assure you. You are not going to have to worry about that, Castle."

"Well, basically," he continued, "it's not that I find _you_ difficult. It's just _reading you_ is difficult. I find you," he paused trying to find the right word, "intriguing."

"Right, well now that we have both discovered that we are difficult people, maybe we should take these drinks back out to the other less difficult people."

They picked up the cans between them and as they walked side by side back to the table where the others were waiting, Kate let her body slightly bump into Rick's. It was simply her way of making sure he knew everything was okay between them.

* * *

After lunch Rick took Martha and Alexis to the store with him to buy some groceries allowing Jim and Kate to have some time alone. As much as they had been having fun altogether, they all knew that they would need some time with just their own family members.

"So," Jim said as they sat out on the back deck, "You are Rick seem to be getting along really well."

A small hum was Kate's only response. Not agreeing or really disagreeing, simply just accepting the statement.

"What? You don't think you're getting along?" he asked.

"No, we are, I'm just not sure why you are mentioning it."

"Really? C'mon Katie. I'm your dad and it's just us here now. You know you can tell me what you really think of him and I'm not going to judge you."

It hadn't taken long for Jim to see some kind of spark between his daughter and the writer. He just wanted to know whether the spark was growing.

"I really don't know what you want me to say dad," Kate said.

Jim sighed. "You're not going to make this easy on me are you?"

Kate shook her head.

"Do you like him Katie?"

Well that was straight forward, and was not what Kate had expected at all. She thought that if she didn't say anything, her father would just drop it. She was wrong.

"He's fun and can be quite childish, but he's a good friend to you. So I guess yeah, I like him," she paused and then added, "as a friend."

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Can we not talk about him, that's not the reason we're here," she said hoping to change the subject. "How are you doing? Are you enjoying yourself? I know this isn't the quiet holiday that you would usually have."

"You may avoid the conversation now Katie, but it's not over. There's plenty of time for me to get you to open up to me. And in answer to your questions, I am doing fine and yes I'm enjoying myself. It's different, but it's good different. I think it's what I needed."

"A couple of weeks of fun and games should be good for you."

"I think it'll be even better for you. You're already smiling a lot more, I can see you're having fun, and I'm seeing a side of you that I haven't seen in years. I notice these things Katie, and don't tell me it's nothing, because I know it's not nothing. And I know you don't want to talk about it, but you will, eventually, and I just want you to know that when you're ready to talk about it, I'm here okay. Just promise me that you'll be honest with yourself about how you're feeling. I don't want to see you hurting yourself because you're afraid."

Kate knew her father was right. She was having a lot of fun, and she was happier, and it seemed like Rick's childish ways were bringing out a side of her that she hadn't allowed out in a while. She felt free around him, felt like she could be herself and didn't have to have this mask on her life. It was nice.

She also felt a sense of joy in hearing that her dad wanted to know about her life and how she was feeling. For the past few years he was so focused on himself, she thought he had almost forgotten she was there sometimes. It was good to know that he was interested in her again. She had a feeling a time would come where she was going to want to talk to someone about Rick, especially if things kept going the way they were but the biggest problem was that, at that moment, she really didn't know what she was feeling herself.

"Thanks dad," she said after a moment of silence and she reached out to place a hand over his. "I promise I'll be honest with myself, and if I have something I need to talk to you about, I'll come to you."

The pair relaxed back on their seats and closed their eyes allowing themselves to simply enjoy the warmth from the sun. Kate left her hand placed on her father's hand. It made her feel closer to him, and she was sure it brought some comfort to him knowing that she was right there with him.

It wasn't long before Kate heard the others returning and noticing that her father had fallen asleep in his chair, she got up to see if she could be of any help putting the groceries away.

"Don't be silly," Martha said. "You just relax, Richard and I have got this."

Kate looked towards Rick hoping that he would let her help, but he didn't. "Mother's right, you should relax. We've got this."

"C'mon Kate, you can come swimming with me," Alexis shouted as she ran up the stairs to her room to find her swimmers.

"You know what, a swim sounds like a great idea," Kate said. "This time, I'll do it without my clothes on," she said turning back to Castle, giving him a knowing look.

The bag of pasta that Rick had been holding in his hand dropped to the floor and his mouth opened wide. He had become like a deer in headlights.

"Um, Kate dear, you might want to rethink what you just said," Martha prompted.

Kate repeated what she had just said to herself and when she realised her words she opened her mouth in surprise and her face flushed a bright red colour. "Oh." She walked over to Castle and picked up the pasta where it had fallen in front of him. "That's not what I meant Castle, and you know it," she said as she slapped him on the shoulder, and shoved the pasta into his chest, finally snapping him out of his shock. "I meant, I will go swimming in my swimmers this time," as she left the kitchen and made her way up to her room.

After changing she came downstairs where Alexis was waiting.

Rick had purposely stayed in the kitchen in the hope that Kate would walk down in just a bikini, but he was disappointed when she had covered herself with a towel. He was going to have to join them swimming himself.

"Enjoy your swim," he called as the girls went outside, and then he rushed to go find swimmers of his own.

Once he was changed, he grabbed his towel and was just about to run downstairs when he stopped himself. What was he doing? He wasn't meant to be going chasing after this woman. He had every intention of just being there for his daughter, having fun with her. And here he was thinking about the other woman and imagining how she would look in just a bikini.

Now, he stood in his swimmers, with his towel in his hand but he wasn't sure he was going to actually go swimming. Should he join them and hope that he could push all inappropriate thoughts aside, or should he just stay inside and keep his mind safe. He stood there for a few moments contemplating his options. In the end he decided he was going to go swimming since he had gone to the effort of changing. His daughter was swimming so of course he could control himself.

When he made his way down to the pool Alexis was in the middle of telling what Rick knew to be an overly exaggerated story about the time there was a spider swimming in the pool with them.

"You should have heard it Kate, it was hilarious. If you think you've heard girly screams, you've haven't heard anything until you've heard my father's. So he ran around the pool freaking out searching for net to scoop it out. The way he was behaving you'd think it was a shark about to eat me. So eventually, he found the net, scooped it out and threw the net as far away from the pool as possible."

Kate was beside herself laughing, which Rick didn't understand. The spider was massive, and if she had been there she would have realised just how scary it was. It wasn't funny at the time.

"Oh, but that's not the funniest thing," Alexis continued.

"Hey, hey… I don't think Kate needs to hear the rest of that story Alexis," Castle said with a face that begged her not to say anything else.

Alexis looked at her father, grinned and then turned back to look at Kate. "The whole time, the spider was fake. He was freaking out about this fake spider."

"In my defence," Rick stated, as he stepped into the pool, "It looked real, and it was huge!"

"Don't worry Castle. I'm here now. If any fake spiders come our way, I'll fight them off," she teased.

"Yeah dad. Us girls will save you next time," Alexis joined in on the teasing.

"Is this what it's going to be like the entire time we're here?" he asked. "You girls continually ganging up on me?"

"Yep," Alexis nodded and then proceeded to climb out of the pool. "Hey Kate, wanna see how I can flip into the pool?"

"Sure," Kate said making her way over to the side of the pool where Castle was sulking. When she reached Castle she spoke quietly to him so Alexis couldn't hear. "You know we don't mean to gang up on you, you just make it so easy. I'm glad you came down to swim with us.."

"Really, you are?" he asked jolting his head up to look at her, surprised that she would admit to such a thing.

"Of course, for Alexis. She was telling me just before the spider story that she loved spending time with you in the pool. She said she had lots of fond memories here of times with you, so I'm glad that me being here didn't stop you from coming swimming."

"Oh. Why would you think you being here would stop me from joining you?" he asked curiously. Even though he knew that he actually had almost let it stop him, he wanted to hear Kate's thoughts.

"Ready!" Alexis shouted interrupting the conversation the two adults were having.

"Ready," Kate shouted back.

Alexis took a run up and somersaulted into the pool.

"Did you teach her how to do that Castle?" Kate asked as Alexis swam over to them.

"No, she somehow taught herself that one. I'm afraid the only skill I have in diving or flipping is the ability to do the perfect bellyflop."

Kate laughed.

"No wait," Rick continued. "Stay right here." He jumped out of the pool quickly and then started running around confusing both Kate and Alexis. He must have circled the pool three times before finally running towards the deep end, and he jumped in while bringing his legs to his chest, causing the two others to get a face full of water splashed in their direction.

"I haven't done that in years," he said when he surfaced. "It's so much fun."

Kate and Alexis looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders then both turned to Rick shaking their heads, really not sure what to say.

"C'mon Beckett, you gotta admit that was impressive."

"If you say so," she said unconvincingly.

"How about you, do you have any tricks?" Rick asked.

"I used to, but it's been a while."

"Well, it's time to pull those tricks back out, let's see one," Castle encouraged.

"I don't know." Kate said unsure.

"C'mon Kate, pleeeease," Alexis begged.

"Oh okay then," Kate said, knowing she gave in much too easily but not wanting to disappoint Alexis.

As she pulled herself up out of the water, Rick finally got the full view of how Kate Beckett looked in a swim suit. Since arriving at the pool, he hadn't even thought about it and he really hadn't taken much notice as to what she was wearing. But now he was looking and she didn't fail to impress. She had a simple black one piece on but the back was cut extremely low with a small tie across the back, and he could only imagine how great she looked from the front. He watched her walk towards the deep end unable to take his eyes off her body, and when she reached the end and turned to face them he had to try really hard to stop his jaw from dropping open. The front of the suit dipped down low on her chest, almost to her naval. The only word he could use to describe her would be 'perfect'.

He let his eyes slowly trail down her body and then back up again towards her eyes, and when he reached them he was met with a glare that said she knew exactly what he was doing. "So, if you've finished checking me out now Castle, I think I'll do that trick now," she said trying not to sound like she actually enjoyed knowing what he was doing.

Castle opened his mouth to say something but, he had nothing. He couldn't deny checking her out. So he just closed it again.

Alexis stood next to her dad shaking her head at him again. "Okay Kate, let's see it."

Kate turned around and faced her back to the pool. She looked down at her suit and hoped that it stayed in place as she entered the water. She counted to herself in her head, '3, 2, 1' and then she jumped backwards flipping into the pool almost perfectly. Before coming up out of the water, she checked her outfit was still all in place and she swam back over to where the Castle's were waiting.

"That was awesome!" Castle said. "It has nothing on my ability to do insane bombies really, but it was still awesome."

Kate rolled her eyes at the writer and then excused herself. She decided she would let Rick have some more alone time with his daughter and she needed to go check to see if her dad was still napping in the chair where she had left him earlier.

* * *

_**Random comment from me again: Don't you hate it when you buy a block of chocolate, eat it all and then feel gross afterwards and regret buying it! I did that today... seriously, I feel blugh! I wont be doing that again any time soon. **_

_**Reviews are great... leave one if you wish. **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Here we are again... with another chapter.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews and the follows... they're great and keep me motivated to continue writing. **_

_**Still don't own Castle or the characters :) **_

* * *

After a morning feast everyone had decided they wanted to get out of the house for a while. Martha suggested shopping, but was the only one excited about that idea. It was Alexis who came up with the idea to go to the museum. Everyone seemed happy with that choice, so after everyone had showered and dressed they piled into Rick's car and were on their way.

Wandering through the old history museum wasn't really Rick's idea of fun but he knew his daughter loved it. For some reason, she loved learning. He wasn't sure where she got it from, because it definitely had not come from him. His mother too, she never really was much for learning. And Alexis' mother, all she seemed to care about was money. He guessed he was just lucky to have such an amazing daughter with a willingness to learn.

Alexis took off in front of the adults and was reading all the little plaques explaining everything. Every now and then she would just stand in front of something and stare at it for minutes at a time, taking it all in. Rick really enjoyed standing back and watching her.

Jim also seemed to be quite the fan of the museum. He looked like he was more interested than Kate but she walked arm in arm with him and listened intently to everything he was saying. Rick thought it was rather sweet of her to do that, to care for her father enough to put her own self aside and to just spend the time with him listening to what he loved.

"Dad, dad!" Alexis called out, waving over to her father. "Come look at this!"

He quickened his pace and went to see what it was that Alexis had found. There in front of her was a photo of the area many years before people started building their homes on it.

"I think I found where our house would be," she said pointing at the picture.

"Yeah, I think you'd be right, Alexis."

"It was so different back then. Do you think all these buildings ruined it?" she asked.

"Uh, I've never really thought about it," he said honestly.

"What are we looking at over here?" Jim asked as he made his way to where the others were standing.

"It's a picture from years ago," Alexis said. "I was just looking at how different it is now. I would have liked to have seen it before all the houses were built. It looks pretty now, I bet it would have looked even nicer back then."

"You know, I think there are more pictures over here," Jim said pointing to another wall. "We should go have a look at those ones too."

Alexis nodded and Kate let go of her father's elbow allowing him to follow Alexis.

Kate watched as her father took the younger girl over to the pictures and she couldn't help but smile at the two of them. It reminded her of the days when she was younger and she would go visiting places with her dad and he would tell her story after story about how life was many years ago.

Rick watched as his daughter listened with excitement to the words Jim was saying. He didn't know what they were talking about, but he could see that Alexis was taking it all in. When he spotted Kate watching them with a smile he excused himself from where he was standing with his mother and he walked to stand beside her.

Kate knew it was Rick who had come to stand beside her without even looking. "He's really good with kids," she said. "He's full of all this information that he just loves to share."

"And it looks like Alexis is really enjoying hearing it all."

They didn't look at each other, they just stood there watching their family members, not realising that just behind them Martha was watching them.

Martha knew that her son had been having some issues before rehab and she was so happy when he decided to do something about it. It seemed like going to rehab had brought about more of a good thing than she had expected. She would call it fate that put Jim in that same centre, and fate had Kate visiting at the same time as Alexis, and fate had both Jim and Rick leaving at the same time allowing this holiday to happen. Yes, that's what this was. It was fate bringing these two souls together. Rick and Kate, they may not be able to see it yet, but Martha knew it when she saw it.

Rick continued watching his daughter who just continued to listen to everything Jim had to say. He didn't know who his father was so Alexis never really had a grandfather, and between him and his mother they knew a lot of things, but they didn't have any knowledge of history and that's what Alexis had been craving. Right now, he felt like Jim was being the grandfather, he never got to introduce Alexis to.

Kate turned to look at Rick as he wiped away a tear that had fallen down his face. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Castle nodded. "Actually, it's better than okay. Look at my daughter. She's just…" he let out a sigh, "just look at how happy she is. I don't think I've ever known her to smile so much. All because your father has this knowledge that no one in her life has been able to share before."

Kate could see by the look on his face, even though he was happy for his daughter, there was something within him that made him feel like he wasn't enough for his daughter.

"Hey," Kate said. "Look at me." Rick looked towards the woman now standing in front of him. "You may not have history knowledge, you may not be able to share the same stories my father can, but you can share so many other things with her. We all have stories to tell and different things to share. I bet what my father is telling her now is nothing compared to all the things that you've been telling her all her life."

Rick thought about it for a moment. She was right.

"You know, I never knew my father, so she's never really had a grandfather. I'm not saying that your dad needs to take that spot," he said quickly unsure how Kate would take what he was saying. "But I hope that even after this trip, we keep in touch so that he can continue sharing his knowledge with her."

"I think he'd like that," Kate said. "C'mon, let's go join them." Without a second thought, she wound her arm through Rick's so they were arm in arm, surprising him and then turned to look for Martha. "C'mon Martha, there's heaps more to see," she called and started towards her father, pulling Castle along with her.

* * *

While stopping at a local café for lunch, Castle asked if anyone was interested in going bowling. He knew he wasn't very good at it, but he always had fun and Alexis loved going last time they were there.

It was a unanimous decision and so once they had all eaten, they walked across the road to the bowling alley.

They paid for a few games, changed into their bowling shoes and got themselves ready.

"I'm not sure where she learnt," Rick said to Jim and Kate as they took a seat around their area. "But my mother always scores really well when we go bowling. Unfortunately, I lack her talent. I always seem to get the ball that is magnetised to the gutter. I'm a professional gutter-baller" he joked.

"He really does," Alexis said. "Don't worry dad, you have other talents. You can write better than all of us."

"She's right," Kate agreed. "Your books are pretty good."

"Aha!" Rick shouted causing a few of the players in other lanes to glare over at him. "I knew you were a fan."

"I'm not a fan," Kate said defensively. "I may have read a couple of your books, but that doesn't mean anything."

"A couple?" Jim said, raising his eyebrows at his daughter. "I'm sure you've got more than a couple in your book case at home."

Kate turned to glare at her father. The last thing she had expected was for him to dob her in.

"So, how many books are we talking about?" Rick asked.

"It doesn't matter," Kate said.

"Do you have all of them? You have all of them, don't you?" Richard said getting excited.

"Oh Richard, leave the poor girl alone," Martha said, taking a seat next to Kate. She wrapped her arm over Kate's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "He seems okay now, but one day he might just need you to tell him how good you really think his books are."

Kate pulled away and looked at Martha, unsure exactly what she meant by it, but she nodded.

She thought about what Martha said. Surely Rick didn't need to be told how good his books were. As far as she was aware, and from what she had read, his ego was already big enough and it didn't need boosting. Then again, he had been in rehab and she didn't know why, maybe it had something to do with his books. She stored away what Martha had said and then stood up.

"Well, let's get this game started shall we?"

Rick was right, Martha was really good and scored quite a number of strikes, while he managed to get more gutterballs than everyone else added together.

"Maybe we should get you the kids bowling guide ramp," Kate said.

"I've tried, it still doesn't work." Castle said. "It's okay, I accepted my inability to roll a ball straight down the lane many years ago, I just like to come along for the fun and for a laugh now. I don't expect to ever win at this."

After one game, Alexis, Martha and Jim all went to the counter for drinks, leaving Kate and Rick at the lane.

"So Beckett," Rick said, taking a seat next to her. "What's it like being a cop?"

"It's like being a writer, only it's not," she responded.

"That doesn't make any sense," Rick said confused.

"It wasn't meant to."

Castle gave her a strange look. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's ok. I just was curious that's all. It's not every day you get to hang out with a cop you know, especially not one that looks as good as you. The time I was arrested, it was by this rather ugly overweight guy, too many donuts if you ask me. If I had been arrested by someone like you, I might have been more inclined to listen to what they were saying to me, but then again, I probably would have tried to get arrested again on purpose in the hopes that I'd get to see you again."

Kate pretended to ignore the compliments but she wasn't sure it stopped the slight blush from appearing on her cheeks. She chose to focus on the fact that he had been arrested instead, "You've been arrested before?"

"Uh, yeah."

"What for?"

"Oh nothing much," he lied.

"C'mon Castle, you tell me what you were arrested for and I'll share a little bit of what it's like to be a cop. Tit for tat, you know?"

"Tit for what?" he said wide eyed.

Kate roller her eyes at him. "Tit for tat."

"Right. I was arrested for stealing a police horse…"

"You what?" Kate laughed.

"And I may or may not have been naked at the time."

Kate nearly fell backwards off her chair. "Are you serious Castle? I am so looking this arrest up when I get back to work."

"If it's pictures you're after, you're out of luck. They didn't take any," he said with a grin, and Kate just glared back at him. "So, tit for tat. Tell me about being a cop."

"Well, there's not really a lot to tell. I've been working with the homicide department lately, but because I've just been a uniform, a lot of it is digging through dumpsters looking for things and really a whole lot of not so fun stuff. But when I go back, I start detective training."

"Serious? So it wont be Officer Beckett, it'll be Detective Beckett."

"Yeah, sounds kinda nice hearing it out loud, and not just in my head."

"Hell yeah it does! And how does one get a ride along with Detective Beckett?" Castle asked.

"One doesn't."

"C'mon, it would be fun. It'd be good for my books, for research."

The conversation had reminded Rick about all his ideas he'd been having since meeting Kate and a ride along would really help him mash more ideas together, but he realised that talking to her about his book ideas at the bowling alley was probably not the best idea. He would have to wait.

"Research? Really?" she aked.

"Who's doing research? Martha asked as she returned passing a drink to Rick.

"Nobody is,"he paused as he took the drink then turned to Kate who was taking her drink from her father, "yet."

They continued playing another couple of games of bowling and pushed the talk of becoming detective and doing research to their back of their minds. Rick would continue the conversation another time, when Kate had more of a chance to think about it.

* * *

When they had arrived home, the women sent the men up to have showers while they cooked dinner. They were just making simple spaghetti bolognaise and did not need the men getting in their way.

Martha was glad to finally have Kate to herself without Rick or Jim around.

"So Kate, tell me honestly, how many of my sons books do you have?"

Kate looked from Martha to Alexis and Alexis could sense her discomfort at sharing the information.

"My lips are sealed," Alexis said and mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

"All of them," Kate said. "My mum loved them, and then when she died, I started reading them. Please don't tell Rick. I really don't want him to see me as one of them crazy fan girls."

"Kate," Martha said. "You are in no way anything like those crazy fan girls, and I think Richard knows that too."

"He likes you, you know," Alexis said. "He hasn't said so, but I can tell."

Martha smiled at her granddaughter, never afraid to say what she's thinking.

"I'm just here for my father," Kate said.

"We know dear," Martha said, "but sometimes fate has other ideas. Now, let's get dinner under way shall we?"

Kate excused herself for a moment, needing to get some fresh air. She walked outside and thought about the past couple of days. It was true, there was no denying that there was something between her and Castle. A part of her wished it wasn't there, because she knew she couldn't act on it. She would just have to continue reminding herself that she was there for her father. That didn't mean she couldn't keep teasing him though, did it? She had been having fun, so there couldn't be any harm in keeping things going as they were. After being outside for a few minutes, she decided it was time to get back and join the ladies. No matter what they said or what they didn't say, she just wanted to have some fun and be there for her dad when he needed her.

* * *

_**So Martha is trying to get things happening... She's a funny one! **_

_**Anyways, review if you want... and if you have any ideas about what these people could get up to on their little get away, let me know. I have planned out most of the story, but there's always room to fit in some other little crazy fun times if you have ideas. **_

_**Did you know? 8% of people have an extra rib. ( That's just a random piece of probably useless information that I felt like sharing. )**_


	10. Chapter 10

"I'll race you up to the top," Castle yelled behind him as he ran towards the lighthouse entrance.

The others all stayed back and watched him as he took off as fast as he could, and Kate knew it wouldn't be long before he ran out of energy. There was no way he could keep that pace all the way up.

"Is he really always like this?" Kate asked.

"Yes! Sometimes he's more of a kid than me," Alexis said.

Kate knew her father was not going to race Rick, Martha didn't look like she was going to either and Alexis looked like she was happy to stay back with her grams.

"Well, I guess somebody needs to race him," she said and she took off at a steady pace, thankful for her regular training that kept her fit.

It wasn't long before she caught up with Castle who was hunched over and trying to catch his breath.

"C'mon Castle! You don't want to let a woman beat you, do you?" she teased as she continued her steady pace up the stairs.

Castle quickly gathered himself and followed staying close behind. "I was beginning to think I was racing with just myself."

"Of course not," Kate said, "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to beat you again."

"Don't be so sure you're going to win just yet. Wait til I get my rocket boost."

Kate laughed and picked up her pace, increasing the distance between herself and the writer.

When she was just a few steps from the top she paused and looked behind her. Castle must have slowed right down because she couldn't see him at all. After a moment, he finally appeared. He had sweat dripping down his face and was almost completely out of breath. It looked like he wasn't quite as fit as he thought.

"You haven't… won… yet," he puffed out as he passed her.

Kate took the last few steps with him and they made it to the last step together just before Rick collapsed onto the floor.

"What… did… you… do… that for?" he managed to get out while lying on his back with Kate looking down over him.

"What?"

"You could have… won!"

"It didn't seem fair. So I thought we'd make it even."

Rick was slowly starting to get his breath back, "well you could at least… make it look like it was difficult for you." He took a deep breath. "It was nice of you to wait, but now you're making me look like an idiot… lying here on the floor almost dying. You look like you flew up without any effort."

Kate was just close enough for him to reach out and grab her hand, so he did and he gently pulled her down causing her to fall next to him.

"That's better," he said.

Kate turned her head to look at him, "You know if you steadied your pace from the beginning it would have been much easier. You only have yourself to blame for this."

"Yeah I know, but doing it my way was still totally worth it!" he said with a grin and Kate couldn't help but smile back at him.

They lay there for a few minutes looking up at nothing in particular while Rick recovered. A few others walked past them shaking their heads and Rick was quite surprised Kate hadn't made a move to get up, but until she did, he was happy to remain lying there next to her.

Rick reached out for Kate's hand that lay next to him, "Kate," he said quietly. "I'm really glad you came out here with us."

"Yeah? You know, I wouldn't have thought so before, but now, I really think it's what my dad needed."

"And you?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I think I needed it to," she said giving a small squeeze to his hand.

They were interrupted when the rest of their family members arrived at the top of the stairs. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Alexis said standing at their feet looking down at them.

Both Rick and Kate sat up simultaneously letting go of the hands they hand't realised were still attached, and Rick responded. "Just waiting for you guys to finally make your way up here."

Alexis raised her eyebrows at her father before walking over to take a look at the view out the window.

"I guess, after that effort getting up here, we should go take a look at the view with Alexis," Kate said as she went to stand. When she got up, she turned and held her hand out to help Rick up. "Up you get Castle. I don't think you're dying from a lack of oxygen anymore."

Rick gladly took her hand, and was tempted to pull her down again just for fun, but was stopped when he saw his daughter standing on her own staring out the window.

"Hey pumpkin, what's up?" he asked when he reached her.

"Nothing," she said softly.

"I'm your father, I know when something's up. You can tell me Alexis."

"Really dad, it's nothing. It's really good to see you happy again."

"You know you're a big part of that," he said to her as he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close to his side.

She was being truthful, she was just really glad to see him happy again and it was like she had said to Kate when they went running, she just wanted to see him smiling again. But she was beginning to see that Kate was bringing a different type of happiness to his life and she had started to imagine the many things that could now go wrong. She didn't know what was going to happen once they all got back to the city, what would happen if Kate just disappeared back into her old life and forgot about them. What would it do to her dad? When Alexis had mentioned that her father liked her the night before, Kate pushed it aside and then disappeared. Alexis was worried that Kate didn't feel the same.

"I know," she finally said. "I just don't want to see the happiness go."

"It wont, Alexis. You're stuck with this crazy, happy man until I get old, and then you'll have a crazy, happy, senile old man"

The others all came to join them so Alexis chose not to say anything further. She would have the conversation with her father another time.

They stood together in silence taking in everything around them for a few minutes, until Rick let out a small chuckle which caused everyone to turn their heads to look at him.

Knowing he was going to have to share what she had laughed at, Rick pointed to the clouds before being asked. "That cloud there, it kind of looks like a huge rabbit. And then that one," he said pointing to another, "it looks like a bear. It's like the sky has been taken over by cloud animals."

"Richard, I think that you need to sit down a little longer, and get some more oxygen to your brain."

"No, I can see it too grams," Alexis said.

"Oh dear!" sighed Martha.

"You know what," Kate said, pointing to another cloud. "That one kinda looks like a dolphin."

Rick and Alexis both agreed.

"Oh, Kate I fear you have been spending too much time with these two, they are rubbing off on you."

"C'mon Alexis, let's go see what other animals we can find," Kate said and they walked further around the top of the lighthouse, with Jim close behind.

"Seriously Richard," Martha said. "A sky full of animals?"

"I wasn't the only one who saw them and besides it's fun to try and find pictures in the clouds, you were the one who taught me that remember. Imagination is the key to every great childhood."

"Oh, so you do listen to me?"

"Of course I do," Rick said and placed a kiss on his mother's cheek before they joined the others.

The rest of the day was spent back at the beach house reading, swimming and exploring the beach. Rick had managed to get some time to himself while Alexis was reading and he did some writing, allowing all his ideas out on paper. The things he was coming up with surprised even him, he hadn't felt this eager to write for a while, and as much as he wanted to just shut himself in his room for a few days and get it all down, he knew he had his daughter to think about, and he still hadn't spoken to Kate about the character she had inspired.

After dinner, Alexis asked if they all wanted to watch a movie. Martha declined and went back up to her room, and Jim said he wanted to call a few people but he would join them later, which left Rick and Kate who both were happy to join Alexis.

Alexis placed her dvd choice in the player and took her seat next to her father, snuggled into his side. Kate took one of the armchairs furthest away from the television. She didn't want to intrude on Alexis and Rick's cosiness.

"What are you doing all the way over there Kate?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, that's the worst viewing spot possible," Castle added. "Come join us over here. I promise I don't bite." He stopped himself before adding 'unless you'd like me to' onto the end of his sentence knowing his daughter was right there.

She couldn't refuse the invitation, she would definitely have a better view of the screen if she sat next to the two Castle's. So, she got up and plonked herself in the seat next to Rick.

Once Kate had made herself fairly comfortable, Rick turned to whisper in her ear, "I don't bite, but I do like to snuggle."

As he went to wrap his arm around Kate, she stopped him. "Don't even think about it," she said.

It wasn't that she didn't want to snuggle with him, the idea of it actually sounded kind of nice, but she just didn't believe it was appropriate right now, not with his daughter there.

"C'mon Beckett, I just want you to be comfortable. What's the harm in that?"

"You called it snuggling."

"So, if I called it, comfortabalising, you'd be ok with it?"

"That's not even a thing."

"It could be," Rick said with a smile. "We could make it a thing," he then added with a wink.

"C'mon Kate, get comfortable." Alexis said. "We won't be starting the movie until you do."

Alexis wasn't sure she had done the right thing encouraging Kate to get cosy with her father. She was worried about her father, but she was curious to see whether Kate would snuggle up with him. Her mind told her that if Kate was okay with snuggling through the movie then maybe she liked her father more than she was letting on. But, when Kate finally did allow Rick to wrap his arm over her and pull her into his side, Alexis suddenly realised maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Now, her father was going to think there was something there, and Kate was only there because she was forced. It wasn't her choice, and it was probably just going to confuse things for her father even more. She really had no idea what she was doing. Unable to change what she had just done, she decided she just needed to start the movie.

When the movie started playing Rick smiled at the choice Alexis had made. One of her favourites, Bambi.

"We haven't watched this in years," he said to Alexis.

"I know," she responded. "Remember the last time we watched it, and you walked around the next day thumping your feet about being Thumper. You thought you were so funny, grams thought you were annoying, and well, I thought you were funny too, but don't tell grams I said that."

"Shhhhh, you two," Kate said.

Rick and Alexis looked at each other. "Oops," Rick mouthed to his daughter, and they all quietly watched the movie together.

As Kate lay there resting her body into Castle's side, the first thing she noticed was just how comfortable she was there and how relaxed she felt. There was no tension, or awkwardness and it felt nice to have his arm around her. She picked her legs up and tucked them in beside her causing her knee to bump into his. She had expected him to flinch or move but, he didn't. He stayed there, with their knees now resting against one another and he gave her a smile. It almost felt like a test, to see how much she could handle before she either pulled away or gave in to the attraction they were both aware of. She must have missed the first ten minutes of the movie while she tried to focus on anything but him and his body that was so close and so comfortable. Now she was there, she wasn't sure she was ever going to want to move. The longer she stayed the more irresistible he became. The only thing stopping her from snuggling in closer was knowing that Alexis was curled up on his other side.

Castle couldn't have been happier when Kate made herself comfortable next to him. Now he had a reason to be extremely close and to wrap his arm around her. He made a mental note to thank Alexis later. He was also glad for the silence while they watched the movie, because with Kate pressed up against him the way she was, and with her knee resting against his, he wasn't sure a coherent word would be able to form in his mouth. He gently ran his fingers up and down her arm, and caused her to shiver. She grabbed his hand making him stop after that but the feel of her skin on the tips of his fingers, that was something he was not going to forget any time soon. Her skin was so soft, silky. She really was perfect.

About 30 minutes into the film, Castle had a sudden realisation about what was going to happen and all his thoughts turned back to Kate. Bambi was going to lose his mother. Kate hadn't really spoken about her mother much, but he knew from Jim that she had been taken away from them unexpectedly and much too soon. Instead of watching the film, he turned all to watch the woman next to him.

Before he knew what was happening, Kate was pulling away and rushed out of the room. Rick was right, the movie had obviously brought back painful memories for her. He quickly jumped out of his seat and started making his way out to follow her, and told Alexis he would be back shortly.

Alexis had no idea what was going on, but stayed to watch the movie and trusted that whatever it was, she didn't need to be there.

When Rick found Kate she was sitting on beach with her head in her hands. From a distance, he could see her shoulders bouncing, a sure sign that she was crying and it broke his heart. He didn't know much about how she had coped with her mother's death, all he knew is that she changed career paths, and dedicated her life to the NYPD and helping her father get through it. He began to realise she probably never had time to grieve properly herself, and now with her father getting better, it was finally her turn.

He walked over to where she was sitting and sat down in the sand beside her. He reached out for her hand wanting to comfort her in any way possible, but she pushed him away.

"I just need a moment to myself."

"Okay," he said, and he sat back. He wasn't willing to leave just like that. He would just sit there with her so she wasn't alone.

"Please Castle, I don't want you seeing me like this."

He really didn't want to leave her, but she had asked twice, and he didn't want to make things worse by making her angry with him so he stood up to walk away.

"Kate, if you need anything. Even if you just want to talk, I'm here, okay?" he said softly before retreating.

She didn't respond. She didn't know how to. How could she put all her problems on him when he was still recovering from his own? She couldn't talk to him, no matter how much she wanted to.

As Rick walked back to the house he passed Jim, who gave him a small nod as if to say thanks. He then watched as Jim went sat down next to Kate and wrapped his arms around her body as it shook, letting out the pain she had been holding in.

Jim let his girl cry as much as she needed to. He knew she had held so much in, had tried to be so strong for him, it was time for him to be strong for her.

When the crying had settled, he spoke. "Do you want to talk about it Katie?"

"I just miss her dad. It's like, we're here enjoying our lives, and she's not with us. It's not right. It shouldn't be like this."

"I know. I miss her too. But we can't bring her back. No matter what we do. She would want us to continue to live our lives Katie. She wouldn't want us to be unhappy. We need to continue living, and having fun, but we'll never forget her. We can remember her through our memories, we can share her with others. We can love her by taking her with us into these lives that she's not here for. Do you ever talk about her to others?"

"Sometimes."

"I don't mean with the few people at the precinct you've told about the case. I am talking about memories, the good memories, do you share those memories with others?"

"No, it's too hard."

"Yes, it is hard, but it helps. You just need to find someone that is willing to listen. And I think you know just the person."

"Dad, I barely know him. I can't put all of this on him, he's still getting better himself."

"It's funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about without even saying his name."

Kate looked up at her father and he was glad to see that a smile was beginning to shine through.

"Give him a chance Katie, he's a good listener. He's been a great friend to me, and he has already heard a lot about your mum from me, so you don't have to be afraid."

"But, I don't have the answers yet, I can't…"

"Katie, you're not listening," he interrupted. "You don't need answers to talk about the good times, the fun memories you had with her. Don't keep her to yourself. It's time to let her out."

* * *

_**I love getting up in the morning to emails from FF telling I have more reviews and followers and favourites. It's kinda cool! Just thought you all should know that. **_

_**Also, thanks for those who gave me ideas. There are some which I am trying to fit in however, not all of them will fit in with the plan. Keep your eyes out though. You may see snippets of your ideas :)**_


	11. Chapter 11

Kate tossed and turned in her bed, fighting back visions that she didn't want to remember. She saw her mother lying dead in the alley, blood pooling all around her, with no one there to help her. She saw her dad with a bottle in his hand passing out before even making it to the lounge in her apartment. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make the visions go away.

She was used to it, it happened every so often but she still didn't like it. It still brought tears to her eyes and fear to her heart. She didn't think she'd ever be able to rid those memories completely, she wished she could, but they were too powerful.

It was part of the reason why she was looking forward to finally becoming detective. She knew she would have more resources to look into her mother's case. She could finally find the guy that did this to her mother, to her father, to her family. They would finally have some answers, and she hoped that once she had them, the visions would begin to fade. Nothing she could do would bring her mother back, but she felt like she couldn't move on with her life until she found the answers she so desperately craved.

Her dad was right though when he said she didn't need answers to share memories of her mother, but she still didn't feel right sharing them. It was too difficult. She was glad he was able to talk about her, and since coming out of rehab he was doing really well. It made things easier for her, but it still didn't make it all better.

Eventually she gave up trying to sleep, knowing the visions were just going to reappear whenever she closed her eyes. It was still only 2am in the morning and she guessed it would be another five hours before anyone else would be up. Remembering the book she had in the car, she decided she would read for a while.

Once she had retrieved her book Kate went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water but as she turned from the refrigerator Martha appeared out of nowhere and Kate almost jumped out of her skin, dropping the bottle and her book on the floor.

"Oh sorry dear," Martha said quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I didn't hear you coming. I thought everyone was asleep."

"I heard something so I had to come check it out. I thought maybe Richard was sleep walking again."

"He sleep walks?"

"He used to as a child, although as far as I'm aware, it stopped when he reached his teenage years."

Kate laughed and reached down to pick up her water bottle, Martha moved towards her to pick up the book that had landed further out in front of her.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Martha said looking at the cover of the book. "You actually brought one of his books with you? Well that's quite a surprise. I thought you were trying to hide how much you enjoyed his books."

"Yeah, I am. You won't tell him I've got it here will you? I grabbed it just before leaving home, and I didn't even think twice. I've had it in the car since arriving so that he wouldn't see it, but I couldn't sleep so I decided I might as well get it out and read."

Martha nodded, and then took a seat, gesturing for Kate to take the one next to her.

"Do you often have trouble sleeping Kate?" Martha asked. "Is everything okay?"

"This happens probably a couple of times a month. I'm not sure if you know much about why my dad was in rehab or what happened to send him there. I don't know what he's told Rick, or what Rick has told you…"

"Richard really hasn't mentioned it. He knows that what he's been told, has been in confidence, and he won't betray his friendship with your father."

"You raised him well Martha," Kate said honestly.

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear that. I know I made mistakes, but considering the life he had, he's turned out okay."

"He's better than okay, he's really quite amazing," Kate said before she was able to stop or think about the words that were coming out.

Martha just smiled. "I'm glad you think so." She reached out and took Kate's hand in hers, trying to make her feel at ease. "So tell me, why can't you sleep?"

"My mum…" she paused, still really unsure about how much she was ready to say. "She died when I was nineteen and dad took it really hard," she said, deciding she didn't really _need_ to go into details, nor was she ready to. "So every so often I just have dreams, memories of the past five or so years. Not the good memories, just the horrible ones, and then I struggle with them, but by the next night I'm usually fine. I guess the movie just got to me more than I thought tonight."

"Are you sure that's all? I feel like you're not telling me something."

Kate thought for a moment. Did she want to share anything more with Martha? Sure, they were spending a large amount of time together, but she just didn't feel like she was the right person to be sharing it all with.

When Kate didn't respond Martha knew she was not going to get anything more from her at this point. "It's ok dear, you don't have to tell me. But don't hold on to it all okay. Make sure you share what you're going through with others. It'll begin to eat away at you if you don't."

"Thanks Martha, I think I'll go back to my room now to read. I'll see you in the morning."

Martha watched as the young woman walked back up the stairs. She could see that Kate was hurting, and she wished she knew how to help. In the end it was up to Kate. She was the only one who could share whatever it was that was bothering her, and no one was going to be able to force it out of her.

* * *

After reading for an hour Kate was feeling restless again. There was too much playing on her mind to even concentrate on the words in front of her.

A few minutes later she found herself outside on the beach looking up at the stars. Wide open spaces were exactly what she needed. Space to just relax and put everything out of her mind.

She wasn't out there long before she felt the presence of someone else. Jolting herself upright she looked around to see Castle making his way down the beach to where she was laying.

"What are you doing out here?" he gently asked when he reached her.

"I couldn't sleep. You?"

"Couldn't sleep either."

Castle lay down on the sand beside Kate and she lay herself back down on the ground.

"You okay?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah."

"You should know that if you need to talk to anyone about anything, I'd be more than happy to lend you my ears," he said with a smile, hoping to get a smile back. Kate always looked most beautiful when she smiled.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry for last night. For pushing you away, I just wasn't sure how to deal with things. And my dad, he's the only one that understands what I went through."

"Really, it's okay," Rick said. "You don't need to apologise. I'm sorry for not stopping the movie. I should have known."

"No, it's not your fault. Please don't blame yourself."

"I still…" Rick started, and looked up to the sky.

"No, no more talk of that Rick. It's not your fault."

Rick nodded, unsure if Kate was even looking at him. He could have said more, he wanted to say more, but he didn't want to upset her or say the wrong thing, and at such an early hour of the morning, he was sure he'd end up saying something which he shouldn't.

Everything went silent again with the only noise coming from the gentle waves crashing on the shore.

"The stars really are beautiful aren't they?" Kate said softly.

"They really are."

"Laying out here, just looking up at them, it's calming, don't you think?"

"Mhmm. It's nice. But it kinda makes you wonder just what's out there, and how small our lives are in comparison."

"Yeah"

There were no huge conversations between them, they both just lay there gazing up towards the sky. The silence between them wasn't awkward, it was almost comforting. They didn't need conversation, they didn't need anything but a moment knowing they weren't alone. And laying there beside each other, that's exactly what they had at that moment. Even if they couldn't come out and completely admit it to one another, they knew they had each other.

It wasn't until Rick saw Kate shiver a moment later that he realised she had only a singlet top and shorts on, and it wasn't a particularly warm night.

"You must be cold, we should go back inside," he suggested.

"I don't think I can sleep yet."

"We'll put a movie on then, you'll get sick if you stay out here like this."

"A movie sounds good."

"Your choice then. Whatever you want to watch is fine with me," he replied.

They helped each other up out of the sand and walked back to the house. Rick pulled her in close using the excuse that she needed warming up, but Kate didn't really need a reason to stay there.

They made themselves comfortable on the lounge again with Kate leaning against Ricks side and started the movie.

It wasn't long before Kate felt herself dozing off in Ricks arms. She knew she should probably go back to bed, but she was so comfortable where she was, and she was enjoying the warmth that Rick was sharing with her. He was really like a big warm pillow, and who would want to leave that and go to a cold pillow? What did it matter really if she fell asleep in his arms? Closing her eyes she felt herself start to slip under.

Rick looked down at the woman resting on his side taking notice that her breathing was evening out, and he knew she was asleep. Knowing she was having trouble sleeping earlier he didn't want to wake her now, so he let her sleep while resting on him. He had started feeling quite tired again himself and he was rather comfortable despite the woman leaning heavily against him. It was probably because of this woman that he was feeling so comfortable, but he wasn't willing to admit that to himself just yet. He turned his head sideways and placed a kiss on the top of Kate's forehead, before resting his head over hers and letting himself sleep too.

Kate felt his lips on her forehead and something inside her suddenly told her to run, but there was something else, something stronger, that made her want to stay. She knew he probably thought she was asleep, so she chose to let him continue thinking that way. She remained pressed into his side, warm and comfortable, and she was asleep within minutes.

Rick was the first to wake an hour or so later and was surprised to see Kate still sleeping against him. He didn't really want to move, but his need for the bathroom was too strong, so he gently lifted her up and placed her head down on a pillow then found a blanket to cover her. She looked so sweet when she slept. Again, he couldn't stop himself from placing a kiss, this time, to her cheek, then went to the bathroom before going to do some writing.

* * *

By morning, Kate had managed to get a couple of hours sleep but she was awake again by 6:30am and decided the best way to wake herself up and get herself ready for the day would be with a run and a coffee.

She was surprised to see Rick sitting in the kitchen. She thought that he'd gone back to bed after she'd fallen asleep.

"You're up early," she said as she poured herself a small glass of water.

"So are you," he responded.

"After last night, I thought you'd be sleeping in."

"I could say the same for you."

Well, she couldn't argue with that.

"So why _are_ you up so early?" she asked.

"Why are you up so early, Beckett?" he returned.

"Castle, are you really going to try and play this game with me?"

"What game?" he said grinning.

Kate rolled her eyes at the man. "Fine, I'm up because I'm going for a run. Now how about you? Why are you up?"

"No reason"

"What? How can you not have a reason? It's not even 7am yet. "

"Why do I have to have a reason to be up? Can't I just be up because I want to be?"

"So, you're saying that sometimes you just get up this early?"

"Yep, that's right."

"You're a strange and confusing man."

"I like to think of myself as mysterious," he said waving his fingers around his face, making Kate laugh.

"Oh, ok then Mr Mysterious, I'm going for a run. I'll see you when I return."

"Have fun," he called as she made her way out the door. "I'll have coffee ready when you get back."

She didn't know how he did it? But she was grateful he had picked up on her coffee addiction. She couldn't get through the morning without one.

As soon as Kate had gone, Rick removed his notebook from where he had been sitting on it and read over his notes. He did actually have a reason to be up, he was writing. He'd woken early full of ideas and was unable to go back to sleep so, he did the only thing he could, he got up and wrote it all down. Still unsure how to talk to Kate about her being the inspiration for his writing, he had to hide it. He would talk to her soon, he knew he had to. He just had to figure out how.

* * *

The rest of the day had been rather uneventful so Kate suggested they do something in the evening and Martha had just the answer. The Bay Street Theatre was putting on Grease and she just happened to know the director and was sure she would be able to get them tickets.

Richard thought it was a great idea, but Jim decided he wanted to stay in. It took a lot of reassuring before Kate was ready to leave him on his own but she knew she was going to have to do it eventually, and they were only going to be gone a couple of hours so she thought he would be fine.

"Call me if you need anything, I'll come back early if I have to," she said to her father as they left him alone to head to the theatre.

They arrived at the theatre and were shown to their seats. Martha was right, she had been able to not only get them tickets but, extremely good tickets. They were in the front row.

"Martha, how did you get these tickets?"

"Well, these are usually saved for the director and his family, but he said they can see it another night, so tonight they're ours."

"It pays to have a well-known actress for a mother," Rick said with a wink in Kate's direction.

Rick sat with his daughter on one side and Kate on the other. He hoped it wasn't too awkward for her being out with his family while her father was alone at the house. The way she fiddled with her hands showed him that she was still feeling a little nervous about leaving him alone.

"Hey," he said as he placed on of his hands over hers to try and calm her, "he'll be okay. But if you want to leave, I'll drive you back."

"No, you're right. He'll be fine. This is good for him."

"You're a good daughter to be worried. Do you want to call him before the show starts? You've got another five minutes."

"Yeah, I think that'll help me relax a little more."

"Go," he said handing over his phone. "We'll be right here when you get back."

"Castle, I have my own phone," she said with a laugh, pulling her phone from her pocket.

He laughed at himself and put his phone back away and watched as Kate left to make the phone call to her father.

She was back in her seat two minutes later.

"How is he?" Rick asked.

"He's fine. Thanks Rick."

When the music started and the lights went down they knew the show was starting. Rick looked over at the women around him. His mother looked really happy, as expected, she loved the theatre. Alexis was more excited than he had thought she would be, and Kate was finally looking relaxed again. Letting himself get comfortable, Rick rested his arms on the back of the chairs beside him, behind Kate and his daughter.

When the song, Summer Lovin' started, Castle couldn't hold back, he had to sing. He leaned over and sang into Kate's ear.

"Summer lovin' had me a blast," he sang, not perfectly, but he thought it was pretty good, he even put on his best Danny Zuko voice. He got quite a surprise when she turned and sang back.

"Summer lovin' happened so fast."

She had a beautiful voice, he wanted to hear more, so if she was going to sing back, he was going to continue himself.

"Met a girl crazy for me," he said and this time he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Met a boy cute as can be," she sung again.

"Dad, Kate, shhhhh, I'm trying to watch this," came Alexis' stern voice.

Kate giggled quietly. She was enjoying their sing-a-long, but obviously Alexis wasn't and she looked quite serious, so she did as Alexis wished, and stopped singing.

"She's no fun!" Rick mouthed to Kate, making her giggle a little more.

Kate had completely let go now of any worry she had leaving her father alone. She wasn't sure how Rick did it, but there was something about him that just calmed her, and made her laugh, even when she didn't think it was possible.

They continued watching the show in silence, and every now and then, one would glance at the other quickly, trying not to be noticed but once again, Martha had seen everything. She was happy for the two of them. They still were not admitting to any sort of attraction, but she knew it was growing, and the way they kept trying to steal looks at one another, she thought it was rather cute.

When it came time for Greased Lightning, Castle started trying to do the dance moves from his chair, which proved to be quite difficult, and when one arm flung out in front of Kate she grabbed it and held it down.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble again," she said quietly and pointed with her eyes to Alexis, who was giving him a rather scary looking glare.

Again, Rick decided he would sit still and quiet. Having Beckett holding onto his arm was making that decision much easier. He wasn't sure if she had realised, but when she grabbed his arm to stop him from dancing she'd folded her own arm around his elbow and had her hand resting on his forearm. Now he was leaning towards her and felt unable to move. If she was comfortable, then so was he, and he wasn't going to be the one to tell her she was still holding onto his arm. A moment later when she rested her head on him he realised she must have known exactly what she was doing, and she was okay with it.

Once again, like they had so often in the past few days, his thoughts went back to Alexis. He was meant to be there for Alexis. He turned his head to look at his daughter without moving too much, but all her attention was on the show, she didn't even turn to look at him. She had encouraged Kate to get cosy with them while watching the movie the previous night, so he was certain she wouldn't have a problem with this now.

* * *

"I'll go inside and get the ice cream," Rick said as they pulled into the driveway after the show. "You ladies make your way out the back, it's perfect weather for an evening snack while listening to the waves."

When Rick made his way through the house and into the kitchen he was met with an unexpected sight.

Jim Beckett sat on a stool with a bottle of whiskey in front of him.

* * *

_***INSERT DRAMATIC MUSIC***_

_**Well, I guess we all knew something was gonna happen when he was left on his own... just when Kate and Rick were getting closer... don't you hate that! And the worst part is... you have to wait for the next chapter to find out what's going on. Don't worry though... I wont make you wait a week like you would if it was on television.  
**_

_**Review, favourite, follow... all these things are great. Probably much better for me than the 2 blocks of chocolate I managed to eat over the past 24 hours. OOPS! **_


	12. Chapter 12

Rick looked from Jim to the whiskey bottle and back to Jim.

"Jim? No. Please tell me you haven't?"

"I haven't Rick. It's full. I haven't even opened it" he said holding the bottle out to Rick. "Here, take it."

"Why? What's it doing here?"

Rick was sure he had removed all the alcohol before Jim had arrived. He knew it wouldn't be good to have it in the home when he was still recovering.

"I was looking for some aspirin on the top shelf, and it was at the back. I pulled it down and I've been sitting here staring at it since."

"How long have you been sitting here like that?"

"An hour, maybe two," he shrugged.

"Is everything okay? Do you need to talk to someone? I mean, you can talk to me, but we have those numbers if you're worried and need to talk to a counsellor again?"

"I wasn't going to drink it. I was just having a staring contest with it. I was trying to figure it out."

"What do you mean?"

"This thing, it controlled my life for years. I wanted to figure out how and why? I thought if I looked at it for long enough it would all make sense. I wasn't going to drink it. I knew my life meant more than that bottle, and after years of turning to it, I can now see how much damage it did along the way. It didn't just ruin me, it ruined my girl, I lost her, but now, Katie, is becoming my Katie again. She's still holding back, but she's smiling, she's happy. She's Katie. I don't want to lose her again"

"How about we just get rid of this," Rick said as he made his way to the sink with the bottle to pour it out.

"Castle, what's taking you so…" Kate said entering the kitchen, and then stopped seeing the bottle in Rick's hand. "What is that?"

"It's whiskey," Jim said.

"And why is it here?"

"I found it."

"You what?" she said shocked and her eyes shot to Rick for an explanation.

"I found it. It was just sitting there and…"

"Rick, you had alcohol here? Why?"

She had gone from carefree, happy Kate to irate Kate in a matter of seconds and Rick had no idea how to deal with that.

"I thought I had removed all the alcohol. I must have missed that one. I'm sorry, it's all going down the drain right now" he said sincerely as he finished pouring the liquid down the sink, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Seriously? What kind of person keeps alcohol in the house knowing there is a recovering alcoholic staying there."

"Katie…" Jim tried to stop her to explain, but was unsuccessful.

"It shouldn't have been here," she continued. "I knew it was a mistake to leave tonight. I knew I should have been here with my father. I shouldn't have left him alone. It was a huge mistake going out with you tonight."

"Katie…" Jim tried again.

"My dad needs me here and I let you convince me it was okay to go out. Don't forget, I'm here for him, not for you. I'm not here for your entertainment Rick. My dad needs me more than you do. Seriously? Whiskey? You had whiskey here? You should know better than that. You're some kind of addict yourself, an addict. I don't see my dad leaving you alone with, I don't know, whatever your drug of choice is. Or actually, did you think if you could get my dad alone that he would find the drink, and then you would come to the rescue and win me over while you're at it. I guess that's why you wanted us here right? It's probably been a while for you since you've been in rehab, so you thought you could get poor little lost Katie? I can't believe you! I can't believe I said yes to coming out here with you. My dad doesn't need to be around other addicts. He just needs his family, he just needs me and we really don't need you!"

Castle stood there taking in her words. It wasn't until she used the words 'some kind of addict' that it really hit him hard. Was that what she thought of him? That he was just an addict, nothing more. He felt the tears welling in his eyes, but he was going to do everything he could to stop them from falling. He wasn't going to yell back, he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, Kate needed to vent.

Jim had had enough, he saw the tears forming in Rick's eyes. He knew his daughter was going to regret her words in the morning if he didn't do something to stop her.

"Katie! It's not his fault. It's me you're angry at. Let him go," he said loudly.

And with that Kate was silent. She didn't look at her father, she just continued to stare at Castle.

Rick turned to the freezer, grabbed the ice cream and left without saying a word.

The moment he left, Kate broke down in tears and collapsed on the floor.

"Katie," Jim said, coming down to sit next to her. He spoke softly, "Katie, it's not his fault, he didn't realise it was still there."

"And you believe him?"

"I do! And I know you do too! You're just scared, and I understand. But I didn't drink anything, and the moment he saw it, he tipped it down the sink. You know it's really not him that you're angry with, it's me. I'm the one who caused this. I'm the one who tried to drown my sorrows with alcohol in the first place. I'm the one who messed us up Kate. Me, not Rick. Rick is really only trying to help, you know that. And he is helping, he's helping not only me, but you. And I know that you are helping him too, I'm not sure how but you are. We're two families working together, helping each other and healing together. Don't give up on it just yet. C'mon, stand up, let's get you to the bathroom and cleaned up," he said reaching out to help her stand.

"No, don't touch me," she said, pushing her father away. "I can't do this right now. Just leave me, I'm going to go to bed," she said and she got up and ran up the stairs. When she reached the top she quickly turned to look at her father now standing at the bottom of the stairs, "I'm glad you didn't drink it." She knew it wasn't much, but she couldn't shut herself in her room without saying something to her father, to show him that she cared, and that she was proud of him for not drinking. He had to know she loved him still. She watched as he looked up at her and nodded.

"I couldn't. I kept thinking of you, and I knew my life was bigger than that bottle."

"I love you dad," she said before allowing more tears to fall and she continued onto her room.

As soon as she entered, she closed the door behind her and collapsed onto her bed. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She thought her father had been doing so well, but one night alone, a couple of hours and he had whiskey. He said he hadn't had any to drink, but what if it happened again and he couldn't stop himself next time? It wasn't that she didn't believe what he had just said, she believed that he thought more of his life, but if things ever got too difficult she couldn't be sure that he would never turn to the bottle again. Right now she just knew she needed to put all her focus back onto him. It was like she said to Castle. She was there for her father.

It didn't seem to matter how much she tried to take Castle out of her thoughts, she couldn't. She replayed the fight over again in her mind, and realised that Rick didn't even try to put up a fight. He just stood there and took it all. Why would he do that? Why didn't he even try to defend himself? That's when she realised that he obviously blamed himself too. She didn't know what to do with that thought. She had been really hard on him, and he probably didn't deserve it. She wasn't going to talk to him tonight though. She wanted to talk to her dad first, her dad _must_ come first. She knew she was in no state to have a sensible conversation with anyone right at that moment, so it would have to wait until the following day.

* * *

Rick found Alexis and his mother outside and passed them the ice cream tub without raising his head to look at either of them.

"Just the tub? No spoons? And where's Kate? I thought she came in to get you," Alexis said.

"Oh, Kate's with her dad. I'll get spoons."

"It's ok, I'll go get them," she said happily.

"No, wait, no," he said quickly finally lifting his head. He didn't know what his daughter would walk in to if she went inside. "I'll go back and get them."

"Richard?" Martha said, noticing the shimmer from unshed tears in his eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing mother, it's nothing."

"Dad? It doesn't look like nothing," Alexis said finally noticing the sadness in her father's eyes. "Is everything okay? Is Kate okay? Is Jim okay?"

Rick shook his head and finally let a few tears fall.

Martha stood and started walking towards the house. "I'll go get the spoons, Alexis stay with your father."

Rick sat himself down on the floor, feeling like his legs just weren't going to hold him up any longer, and Alexis was by his side in seconds with her arms around his neck trying to comfort him the only way she knew how.

"I'm sorry dad. I don't know what happened, but it'll be alright," she whispered in his ear.

Martha returned quickly with some spoons, and sat down with her son. "It looks like they've gone to their rooms," she said. "Did you want to go inside?"

"No," he shook his head. "Let's just sit out here and enjoy the ice cream."

He didn't really feel like eating, but if his daughter saw him turn down ice cream, he knew it would cause her to worry more than he ever wanted her to. She was already worried enough.

They ate in silence. Rick not really knowing what to say, Martha knowing that her son wouldn't want to talk too much while Alexis was there and Alexis just had no idea what was going on.

When she'd eaten enough, Alexis said she would put the ice cream away and take herself to bed leaving her dad alone to talk to her grams.

"I saw the empty whiskey bottle," Martha said. "I threw it out. Want to tell me what happened?"

"Jim found it. I had left a bottle in the pantry, and I didn't realise it was there."

"He didn't drink it, did he?"

"No, he didn't. It wasn't even open when I saw it. He was just staring at it. But then Kate saw it, and…" he stopped.

"Richard, what is it?"

"She called me addict. She said it was my fault, I left the bottle there and then accused me of planning it, so that I could be a hero and win her over. She said the only reason I invited her was to get in her pants. Not exactly in those words, but that's what she meant. She told me she wasn't here for me, that she's not here for my entertainment. We all had such a good time tonight, and she said it was a mistake going out with us and you know what, she's right."

"Richard, she…"

"No mother," he stopped her. "Maybe she's not right about all of it. Like I didn't plan to be a hero win her over or take advantage of her, that's not true, but the rest is. It was my fault, I should have double checked to make sure there was no alcohol here, I shouldn't have convinced her to come tonight, I should have told her to be here with her father. She's here for him not for me. It was selfish of me to take her away from what she was really here for."

"Richard, you know it was Kate's idea to go out tonight. You're not the one who convinced her to go, Jim told her he would be fine."

"I should have known better though. I should have told her we could go another night. I need to stop acting like everything is okay. Everything is not okay. I'm not okay. I'm an addict. And that's how she sees me. An addict and nothing more," he was no longer feeling upset so much, but angry. He was angry at himself for allowing this to happen, he knew he should have been more careful.

"Richard, I'm sure that's not true. Anyone who's spent any time with the two of you over the past week could tell you that she doesn't think of you as just an addict. Something happened tonight that was unexpected and she's obviously said some things that she didn't mean."

"Still, I need to focus on Alexis. She's my family, not Kate," he interrupted.

"That's rubbish and you and I both know it. Even in the short time we have known them, Jim and Kate have become like family to us. We're getting through this together. Kate's obviously had a tough few years, and just when she thought it was getting better, and her father was getting back on track, this happened. It's sure to have frightened her, even if Jim didn't drink it. We didn't know the drunken Jim but Kate did, and I am sure it wasn't nice. Anyone would get upset and scared if they thought things were about to go bad again. She cares deeply for her father, she's worried for him, and even after everything that she said tonight, you know she cares for you too. Don't try and deny it. I can see it. And I know you care for her. She needs people now more than she probably reaslises. Just give her time. She'll come around. Tomorrow is a new day."

"I guess you're right. I hope you are. I do care for her, I think that's why it upset me to hear her say those things and to know what she really thinks of me. Mother, I really thought we were getting close. It didn't matter how much I tried to deny it, I just found myself getting drawn to her. I have been trying to keep my thoughts and everything on Alexis, but I couldn't stop myself, whenever she's around, I just… it's different, and I thought maybe it could be something. I really hoped that Kate would start to open up to me, I know she's holding things in, she's trying to be strong for her father, and I wanted to be the one that could help her when she's ready, but now, after tonight, I'm not sure she's ever going to want to share anything with me."

Martha reached out and placed a hand on her son's cheek so she could look him in the eye. "My dear son, I knew you were getting closer to her, anyone could see it. Even if she's not willing to admit it, she's going to need your help. I can see she's helping you"

"She helps more than you know."

Martha smiled. "You need to talk to her Richard. Tell her how you feel. Let her calm down first. She'll come around, I know she will."

"Thanks," Rick said with a half-hearted smile. "I think I might just head to bed now. Thanks for a good night out." He kissed her on the cheek and went back inside.

Martha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The next few days were going to be tough if this didn't sort itself out quickly.

* * *

_**YAY! Jim didn't drink it! That's a good thing right? Now we just have to sort Kate and Rick out again. **_

**_Review if you wish,_**

**_Review if you dare, _**

**_Review if you have any random thoughts to share!_**

_**oh yeah I rhymed... coz I'm that awesome! (says me)**_


	13. Chapter 13

The following morning Castle had hoped to see Kate. Even if she wasn't ready to talk to him, he wanted to know that she was ok.

Jim told Rick to give her time. He knew that his daughter would probably just want to hide away until she was ready to deal with everything. With that in mind, Rick decided he would take Alexis out for the day while Jim stayed behind to talk to Kate.

After dropping Martha off at the shopping centre, Rick took Alexis to the children's museum. He wasn't sure if she was getting a little too old for it, but it was just a fun place to be where he could take his mind away from places it refused to leave. If he didn't distract himself, his mind just kept going back to Kate. He tried to put all those thoughts aside and just focus on Alexis like he had planned to, but he was failing miserably.

Rick and Alexis created some artwork, read an upside down book while lying on the floor, discovered how a windmill worked, looked at a bunch of bugs and Rick's favourite, made music in the musical forest. But, it didn't matter how hard Rick tried to look happy, Alexis knew he was still bothered by whatever had happened the night before.

"Hey dad," she said softly as they sat on the floor of a pretend ship, "I think we should go get lunch and eat at the jetty. It's peaceful there, and I think that's what you need right now more than this noisy place full of kids screaming."

Alexis knew that what he really needed was to talk, and he was reluctant to talk to her because she was still so young, but she too, had to talk to him, and she hoped that she'd be able to cheer him up a little.

"What do you think?" she asked when her father didn't respond.

"Yeah, sounds good," he said with half a smile.

* * *

Jim knocked quietly on his daughter's door, unsure whether she wanted to see him just yet. "Katie, it's just me, everyone has gone out, can I come in?"

It took a moment for her to answer, but he was relieved when he heard her soft reply.

"Yeah, come in dad."

When he entered Kate was still curled up in bed. He hadn't known her to be in bed past 7am in quite some time, and here she was at 10am, looking like she had no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

"How are you feeling?" he asked taking a seat at the end of the bed.

"Kind of stupid actually. That's why I'm hiding away. I want to talk to you and I want to talk to Rick, and I probably should apologize to Martha and Alexis too. I'm sure they were affected by the things that I said last night. I just… I don't know where to start. I was angry dad and I turned nasty, I said some terrible things."

"It was understandable."

"No, it wasn't. I didn't even give him a chance to explain," she said angrily as she lifted herself up and hung her feet out the side of her bed.

Jim placed his hand on her back and started rubbing small circles, like he did when she got upset as a child.

"He wanted to see you this morning, you know," Kate turned her head to look at him surprised.

"Really? I didn't think he'd want to speak to me after what I said. I called him an addict, a liar, I accused him of… it was just bad. You should know. You were there."

"I know. But he still wanted to check on you this morning. I had to convince him to go out so that I could talk to you first. He probably would have sat outside your door all morning if I let him. He really just wanted to make sure you were okay. He's not mad at you, which surprised even me. He cares for you Kate. Usually, as your father, it's my job to try and scare him off," he laughed, "but it's obvious he doesn't scare easy, and the more I get to know him, the less I actually want to scare him away. He's a good man. He made mistakes in his life, we all have, but look at him now. He's fixing them, and you may not realise just how much help you have been to him over this past week."

Kate sighed. She had to talk about last night with her dad first. She had to find out what was going on in his mind when he pulled down the whiskey bottle. Then she would talk about Rick and what she was going to do with him.

"Wanna come sit on the beach with me dad?"

"Sure."

* * *

Alexis sat down next to her father and they dangled their feet off the edge of the jetty.

"Dad, you know I love you right," she said.

"Yeah pumpkin, of course I do," he replied wrapping his arm over her shoulder.

"And you know I love that you spoil me and take me out places and treat me like your little princess."

"Because you are my little princess," he added with a grin and shook her body next to him.

"Dad, I'm trying to be serious."

"Sorry," he said and kissed her temple. "Go ahead."

"Well, I just want you to know that I don't need all that. I don't need you to spend lots of money on me, to take me places and everything. I know you feel bad because you went away for a while, but it's okay. It was terrible knowing that you were having a bad time and you weren't enjoying life, but now you're happy again, and that's all I want. I just want to know that you're happy."

"Alexis, you make me happy."

"But…" she sighed deeply.

"No, there are no but's Alexis. I've got everything I need here with you."

"You don't dad. If you did, you wouldn't have spent half the morning sulking. I know you tried your best to hide it, but I'm not silly. I'm not that 5 year old little girl that you can fool with a funny face and a silly game. I know you love me, and I know you want to do what's best for me, but sometimes you need to think of yourself too. It's okay to do that every now and then. I know that I'm important to you and you'll never forget about me, so it's okay if you sometimes do things because _you_ need to."

"I do Alexis."

"No you don't. The whole time we've been here, you've been trying your best to be all about me, and you're ignoring the very thing that you probably need more than me right now."

"How could I need anything more than you, Alexis?"

"Dad… please, just let me say this."

Rick nodded.

"I was worried before. I saw that you and Kate were getting really close, and it scared me. But now I realise there are things that Kate can give you that I can't. I'm young, I am your daughter, but I can't always be the person you share everything with. I am after all, still only a child. But Kate, she understands you in ways that I can't, she can be your friend when I can't, and I think she cares for you. I know you've been trying to ignore it but I can see you care for her too. I just want you to know that even if it scares me, I want you to be happy, and if that means Kate becomes a bigger part of your life, I'm okay with that, because I know you're not going to push me aside, and it's like I said, I just want to see you happy and this past week you've been the happiest I've seen since I can remember, and you know as well as I do it's because of her."

"Alexis, what are you saying? You don't think I'm happy when I'm with you?"

"No, I know you're happy with me, but it's different," she leaned into his side a little closer. "I love you dad, just promise me, you'll allow yourself that other happiness that I can't give you."

"Okay, I promise," he said. He was surprised at how mature his girl was. When did she get so grown up?

"And you have to talk to her about it soon, because if you don't, and then you find out she doesn't feel the same, then I know you, you'll get hurt, and I don't want that to happen."

Rick nodded. "Alexis?"

"Yeah," she said leaning back and looking up at him.

"You'll tell me if you're unhappy?"

"Yeah, but as long as you're happy then I'm happy."

They sat there silently for a moment before Rick spoke up again.

"You know it's not your fault that I had to go to rehab, don't you?"

"I know," she said, but Rick knew she was lying.

He turned his body so he was sitting facing her cross legged. "Come here," he said and pulled her onto his lap. She may have been growing up, but she was never too big for her father's lap and his hugs.

"Nothing you have ever done could make me unhappy. It wasn't you that was too much for me, it was everything else. I was worried because I couldn't write and I didn't know what to do and I couldn't sleep. You were the reason I got better, I wanted to be better for you, to be a good dad for you. So don't you ever blame yourself for any of this, okay."

He felt Alexis nod into his chest, and he just held her there a little longer.

When he heard no more sniffles from Alexis and he knew she was no longer crying he spoke up again. "How about we go get some ice cream, and this time you have to try the flavours that I tell you, I don't care how silly you think they are?"

"On one condition," she said.

"What's that?"

"Tonight, you have to talk to Kate and tell her how you feel."

* * *

Kate and Jim sat in silence for what felt like hours, both waiting for the other to say something. They each knew that they had a lot to talk about, but didn't know where to start.

After realising she couldn't stay silent forever, Kate was the first to speak up but, she spoke while looking down at her hands, afraid to see the look on her father's face.

"So what happened last night dad?"

"I don't know."

"Why was there a bottle of alcohol in front of you?"

"I didn't drink it," Jim said defensively.

"I know but it was still there, tempting you, and I just don't know why you let it. Why didn't you get rid of it right away?" she asked, finally looking up at her dad.

"I was up most of last night asking myself the same question."

"So, what happened?" Kate asked again.

"I had a headache, and I wanted to take something for it and then I was just going to go to bed and sleep. That's what I would normally do, but when I went looking for aspirin I came across the bottle of whiskey instead, and then it was like my headache was not an issue anymore. Suddenly, the issue was the whiskey bottle."

Kate nodded to let him know she was listening and as a gesture to continue.

"I pulled the whiskey bottle down and placed it on the bench and then I sat in front of it, staring at it for a couple of hours. I'm really not sure how long I was there, I lost all sense of time. I just had a staring contest with the bottle."

"And at any time, did you want to open it and have a drink?"

"No, I didn't."

Kate was relieved when she heard her dad say that he wasn't tempted by the alcohol, but was still confused as to why he would sit staring at it for so long.

Jim could see the confusion in his daughters face and he continued. "You see, I sat there staring at it trying to find answers to the many questions I had going through my head. Why did I turn to alcohol in the first place? What did I think it would achieve? Why didn't I see what I was doing to my daughter? Why didn't I get help sooner? There were a whole lot of questions but not a lot of answers, and I just couldn't figure it out. I was determined to get at least a couple of answers before moving, so I just stayed there."

"Dad, you know the bottle can't answer those questions for you. Only you can answer those questions."

"I know, but I thought looking at it would help. I know how ridiculous that sounds, trust me, but at the time it didn't seem that silly at all."

Kate turned her body so she was facing her father and reached out to take one of his hands in her own.

"Do you have answers to any of those questions now?"

"Not really, and I may never have complete answers. I guess I didn't see what I was doing to you, and I did nothing to stop it sooner because I was so far gone that I had no idea what I was doing to myself, but that doesn't explain why I started drinking in the first place. You know you hear of people becoming alcoholics all the time, you just never think it'll happen to you. You think you'll see it coming, but I really didn't Katie. It was just like one day your mother was here and we were fine, and then the next, she was gone, I was drunk, and I had ruined your life."

"You didn't ruin my life," Kate said with a sincerity that Jim really needed to hear. "When mum left our lives, things changed, but I wouldn't say my life is ruined. I may not have finished law school, and I may be a cop instead of a lawyer, but look at me. I'm successful, I'm happy."

"Katie, you know you haven't been happy in years. Not the way you were before."

"I'm happy now."

"Well, not right now you're not," he said. He could always read exactly how Kate felt even when she tried to hide it from him. He said it was his special power.

"Okay, no, not right now, but after last night, it would be difficult to be happy today."

Jim looked from his daughter and then back out to the ocean and things went silent again for a few moments.

"You do know that you saved me right? If it wasn't for you, I probably would have lost myself in the bottle forever, but there was always you, trying to help me. And I know it took some time before I saw it, but I'm glad you didn't give up on me Katie."

"Of course I wouldn't give up on you. You're my family."

"I realised while I was in rehab that the whole time I had turned to the bottle, I should have been turning to you. You needed me, and I wasn't there, and I'm sorry for that. I realised that the bottle won't bring me the answers I want and it's possible I'm never going to get those answers, and if I don't get answers then every now and then I know I am going to need comforting, and that's something that a bottle really can't offer."

"No, it can't," Kate said shaking her head with a small smile.

"Comfort is something that only other people can provide. It's people that we need in our lives Katie. People that care for us and are there for us."

Kate knew exactly where her father was going before he even mentioned his name. He was trying to bring up the subject of Rick again.

"Dad, I know what you're doing. I know you're trying to bring up a particular person right now" she said with her smile slowly growing.

"I knew you'd figure me out straight away," he laughed. "I worry for you Katie. I worry that you don't have anyone to talk to. I worry that you lie awake at night on your own with no one to comfort you when you have nightmares. I worry that no one is there to care for you when I'm not around."

"I'm fine."

"I know you think you are, but I know it could be better for you, and I've seen how happy he makes you. I want that for my little girl. I want to know that you are happy, and that someone cares for you. And I can see that with him. You can see it too, you're just scared to open up to someone. I know you try and hide away and pretend everything is okay, but you can't do it forever. Just think about it okay. If you're scared to share, just start small, see how that goes. I'm sure you'll find it easier than you expect, I know I did. And be open to being comforted. Don't push it away. We need love in our lives, it's what keeps us moving on."

* * *

_**A chapter of daddy / daughter talks... how sweet!**_

_**I'm craving peanut butter on toast right now! But I don't have any peanut butter... oh how sad!**_


	14. Chapter 14

As much as Rick wanted to get home during the day, he also wanted to give Kate and Jim plenty of time to talk and have some time to themselves. With this in mind, after picking up his mother from her day of shopping, the two of them, and Alexis, went out to dinner.

When they arrived home, Alexis was already feeling tired. It had been a long day and she just wanted to go up to her room, read for a while, then go to sleep. Once Rick was convinced she really was just tired and there was nothing more to it, he let her do as she wished. His mother did the same, saying she was going to have a shower, sort out all the shopping she had done, and then would probably go to sleep early herself.

Rick walked through the house. He hadn't seen or heard Jim or Katie anywhere. Going up to his room he sat himself down on his bed and rested his head in his hands. He wasn't going to cry, he just was so confused and worried at the same time. He was worried for Alexis and hoped she had stopped blaming herself for his mistakes. Worried for Jim and hoped that he really hadn't been tempted by the whiskey the previous night. But mostly, he was worried for Kate. He just didn't know what do with everything that he had going on in his mind. He also had Alexis' words playing on repeat in his mind. 'Tonight, you have to talk to Kate and tell her how you feel'. How was he meant to do that? He wanted to talk to her, but he really wasn't sure she was ready for anything he wanted to say. But, not knowing where either Jim or Kate were, made it difficult for him to say anything. And then there was also the thought that maybe Kate did actually believe some of what she had said the previous night. What if she really did think he was just an addict and he had only wanted her there to win her over? Of course, he knew it wasn't true, but how could he be sure she knew that.

He sat there for a while just thinking about what he could say and how he could say it, but came up with nothing and then his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. Jim stood there, and Rick couldn't hide the disappointment when he realised it was only Jim, and Kate wasn't standing with him.

"Is it okay if I come in?" Jim asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Rick nodded. Jim had barely even made it in the door before Rick spoke again.

"How's Kate?" There were no other words that he was able to get out, he just wanted to know she was okay.

"She's good. We've had a good day, talked through everything, and I think she's better."

"Oh good. Does she want to be alone right now? I wanted to talk to her if that's okay, but if she needs to be alone, I understand and I'll respect that."

"I don't think she knows what she wants right now Rick. Everything she used to want she put aside when I… well you know, when I started drinking. And now she's got to figure it all out again, but she's scared. She needs someone to talk to, and I know it's not ideal with you having been through everything that you've been through, but she's different with you. She's comfortable, and I think she's going to want to start talking about things with you. Do you think you can handle it?"

Rick thought for a moment before he responded. "Yes," he said with determination, but he was still a little confused because Jim hadn't really answered his question. "So do I go and talk to her tonight? Or do I wait for her to come to me?"

"She's expecting you, I said I'd come find you. She's outside."

Rick let out a sigh of relief. "Really?" he said, with what could almost be seen to be excitement.

"Yes," Jim smiled.

"Great, I guess I shouldn't keep her waiting then," Rick said walking towards the doorway.

"And Rick," Jim called out to him and waited for him to turn back to him. "Look after my little girl."

"I will," Rick said in complete honesty.

Rick found Kate outside, as Jim had said. She looked nervous, she was fidgeting with her hands and pacing back and forth.

When she heard Rick come closer she lifted her head and gave him a small smile. She wasn't exactly sure how much to expect from him. She wasn't sure if he'd be upset or angry so it was hard to know what to do and how to start their conversation. He stopped a few metres away from her looking a little unsure as to whether it was okay to come the rest of the way.

"Hey," she said eventually, as an invitation to come and join her.

"Hey," he returned, and took the last few steps towards her.

"Look Rick…." Kate said at the same time as Rick spoke.

"Do you wanna…."

"Sorry," she said. "You go first."

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to go for a walk down the beach. We can talk?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Rick's heart skipped a little when she smiled again, and this time it wasn't a nervous smile. They were going to talk, everything was going to be fine. And as they made their way onto the sand Alexis' words repeated in his head again. 'Tonight, you have to talk to Kate and tell her how you feel.' He knew he had to. He told Alexis he would, he just hoped that it wouldn't make things more awkward.

They walked side by side in silence for a couple of minutes before Kate spoke up.

"I'm sorry Rick. For last night, for what I said. I shouldn't have said those things. They were hurtful. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions or judged you so quickly. I really didn't mean any of it. I just, I don't know, I reacted badly and I'm sorry"

"The things you said, the reason you said I invited you, you don't believe any of that?"

"No, not at all. I don't know where that came from. I was horrible, and I really thought after what I said that you'd never want to talk to me, or you'd be angry with me or something."

"I could have been, and I think previously I would have been, but I don't know, I guess rehab has helped me learn how to deal with a lot of things in different ways. I've learnt to forgive, knowing that holding onto unforgiveness just hurts us. So I forgave you, and I was just worried for you more than anything. I'd never seen you so angry, so upset before."

"So just like that, you forgave me? Why? How?" she asked surprised.

"I guess I just tried putting myself in your shoes and I would like to say that I know exactly what you're going through, and that I understand it, but I don't. But I do know that you are doing your best, and you are looking out for your dad in any way you can. I know what it's like to have things that you think are going really well to suddenly break down, and start going backwards. I've been through it, not in the same way that you would have last night, but I know that seeing your dad and the liquor bottle must have brought up a ton of emotions. You were hurt, and so you dealt with it, any way you could."

"Yeah, by placing the blame on you and accusing you of things that I know you wouldn't do. I was angry, and I needed to let it out at someone. I'm just sorry it was you. I know you are still recovering yourself. Seeing my dad with the whiskey bottle, it must have been difficult for you too. Gosh, I didn't even think last night how you must have been feeling."

It was true. She hadn't thought about it until now. Seeing her father with a bottle of whiskey, possibly falling back, that must have affected Rick. They were supposed to be helping each other. Did he blame himself for what had happened? Did he regret leaving her father on his own?

"Yeah, it was difficult at first. When I saw him there with the bottle, my stomach dropped. I didn't expect him to fall back into that habit, but when I realised it wasn't even opened, I knew just how strong your father had been and just how well he was doing."

"I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to talk or to explain anything."

"Kate," he said and he stood in front of her stopping her from continuing the walk along the beach, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "You can stop saying sorry. It's okay."

"At any point, did you blame yourself? I mean before you realised it was still closed?"

"I didn't really have a lot of time to blame myself before realising it was still full, so no not really," he replied, removing his hand from her shoulder, but not moving from his place in front of her. He wanted to be able to speak to her face, "but there was something that you said last night…"

"You can pretty much ignore everything I said last night. I don't remember it all, but I'm certain I didn't mean it." Kate interrupted.

Rick smiled. "No, you said I should have been more careful and made sure there was no other alcohol around, and you were right. I should have. It was my mistake, and so I will take the blame for that, but I did check everywhere again this morning, and now I can assure you, there are definitely no more bottles anywhere."

"Thanks Rick. But I know there was more to what I said and I just want to say again, I am very sorry for all of it. You're a great guy, and I don't think you wanted me here for any reason other than to be here for my father."

"We've already been over this, it's ok. Please stop apologising and forgive yourself for it."

"Only if I know you completely understand how honestly sorry I am."

Rick placed his index finger under Kate's chin and lifted her face so that they could see into each others eyes. He was sure of the sincerity he heard in her voice but he wanted her to see it in his eyes, "I know you are. I believe you."

When he saw the look in her eyes that said she believed him, he removed his finger from her chin and let her drop her head again.

"So, tell me, how do you think my dad is really doing? I mean, I thought he had been doing really well, but after the last few months that I had with him before he went into rehab, just hearing him put coherent sentences together would make me think he was doing exceptionally well. So I'm asking you honestly, how is he? I know there are things he tells you that he doesn't tell me. He's afraid it'll be too much for me."

"Kate, he's doing really well. I said earlier that I realised how strong he is and I meant it. Not many recovering alcoholics would be able to sit staring at a bottle of whiskey for two hours without opening it. Most would give in to its pull. He's doing great, and he's doing it for you. He misses you, he said to me the first week we were talking that he misses the confident Kate, the one that wasn't afraid to have fun, or fight with him. He wants you back, and he said that's what he's been beginning to see again here."

Rick lifted his thumb to Kate's face to wipe away the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

"He's doing this for you because he loves you Kate. I know that love because it's the same love I have for Alexis. It's the love that makes us want to be stronger, it makes us want to be better. It makes us want to be the people we are supposed to be, the strong men we are supposed to be so our loved ones don't have to be anything other than what they are meant to be. You can just be Kate again, you don't have to be a hero for your father anymore, he's doing it himself. You know as long as he knows he's got you by his side, he's just going to keep getting stronger."

Kate fought the urge for as long as she could, until she couldn't hold back any longer and she flung herself into Ricks chest wrapping her arms around his body. He responded immediately folding his arms around her shoulders and holding her close while she let out the tears he knew were falling.

"He says I need to talk about her, about my mum, I just I don't know how," she said still resting her head on his chest. "It's hard, and I know that he's been talking to you about her, and I think that's helping him become strong as well. He's not forgetting her, or trying to forget her, he's remembering all the good times and it's covering the horrible end to her life. Thank you for listening to his stories."

"Kate, when you're ready to talk about her, I would love to hear your stories too. Your mum sounds like she was an incredible woman."

"She was," Kate said and let more tears fall.

When Kate knew the tears had stopped, she pulled away from Rick, but she wasn't sure she wanted to. Her dad had been right. It felt good to be comforted, she should have allowed it sooner. And being in Rick's arms wasn't weird or awkward, it felt right.

Once they were parted Rick moved back to his place beside her and they continued walking down the beach.

"Rick, thanks for being there for my dad. I do what I can, but I think it's good that you're there too."

"It's really no problem."

"Enough about my dad now though, how are you doing?"

Rick was touched that she actually even thought about asking how he was doing, and he could hear there was a genuine concern in her voice.

"I'm doing well, I guess it's still early days, but I think I'm going to be okay. Haven't thought once about going back to the life I had myself living before rehab."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why was it that you were in rehab? You don't have to tell me, but I want to help if I can."

"Just by being here with us, you're helping Kate. More than you know. And any questions that you have I'd be happy to answer. Part of our recovery is being able to find people we can share our stories with. It doesn't mean we should go and share them with absolutely everyone, but when we find someone that we trust and that we know really cares, then we are encouraged to be honest, so that's what I'll be with you."

"You really trust me that much? After everything I said last night."

"No more about last night okay, that's all been forgotten. You wanted to know why I was in rehab. Basically, I became addicted to sleeping pills. I know it may sound a little unusual, but it happens, and it was an addiction that took me away from my daughter. I knew I had to do something about it and I wasn't going to be able to do it on my own, so I booked myself into rehab."

"Why? I mean, not why did you book yourself into rehab," she explained. "Why sleeping pills, what got you to that point?"

"I'm really not sure how I let it get to where it did. You know I'm a writer, so my life and my career rests on my ability to be able to come up with new stories, and for months, I had nothing. I hadn't written anything new in a while."

Rick continued to tell the story of the few months before he put himself into rehab, of the nights he lay awake worrying about his future, the harassing phone calls asking for work he felt unable to complete and the final incident that made him realise he needed help. The whole time, he had Kate's full attention. He hadn't realised it at first but at some point they had stopped walking again and were standing face to face. Had she stopped him this time?

"Wow," Kate said when Rick had finished. "I don't know what I expected, but I guess I really wasn't expecting that. You really thought your career was over?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And your writing, have you started getting ideas again?"

"Actually, I have," he said. "I'm still putting it all together, but I'm pretty excited about it."

"Well, I'd love to hear about it at some stage, that is, if you want to share it with me."

As much as Rick, really wanted to share it with her, he knew there were other things he needed to discuss with her first before bringing up his story ideas, which she had inspired. "Of course, when I've got a few more pieces put together, I'd love to run my ideas through with you. Your NYPD insight could be helpful."

"Don't even think about asking for another ride along," Kate said with a laugh and started walking along the beach once more.

"Oh," Rick said pouting. "You know I'll get you to change your mind about that eventually."

"Really Castle, and how are you going to do that?"

Rick knew Kate had definitely let go of any worries she had about the previous night when she called him Castle, and her fun tone had reappeared.

"Oh, I have my ways, Beckett," he grinned. "I have my ways."

The pair had now been wandering up the beach for some time, and hadn't even realised how far they had gone until Rick spotted one of his and Alexis' favourite hide aways and he knew it was a great place to view the sunset.

"Quick," he said and he grabbed Kate's hand, "Come this way," and he ran forward pulling her along until they came to a rocky area with a little cave. "Sit with me," he said as he sat on a smooth rock, still holding onto her hand and pulling her closer.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Kate said. "You've got a hold of my hand pretty tight there."

"Oh sorry," he said letting go. He hadn't even realised how tight he was holding on.

"So what are we doing here?" she asked when Rick just sat there silently as if waiting for something.

"Just watch."

She did. She watched, and waited, and then she saw it. The sunset. It was magnificent.

"It's beautiful Castle," she said and surprised herself when she wrapped her own arm through his elbow and rested her head on his shoulder, making herself comfortable. It was like her body did it without even thinking, like it was a normal thing to do. He didn't move to get away so she stayed.

"Alexis and I sometimes come out here, it's just the perfect spot. The way the light reflects off the water and there's the cool breeze in the air. We love it, I'm glad you like it too."

Kate didn't have anything to say back, she just remained sitting next to Rick, looking at the view.

Rick watched her while trying to figure out how to bring up the subject of whatever it was between them. He trusted her when she had said that she hadn't meant the things she had said the previous night, and so he no longer felt he had to worry about that. In the end, he figured there was no way of easing into it, he was just going to go for it. It was what Alexis wanted. She wanted him to be honest with Kate about his feelings, so that's what he was going to be.

"Kate"

"Yeah," she lifted her head and turned to look at him.

"Alexis and I spent a lot of time talking today, and there were some things she said that really got me thinking."

"She's a special girl, very intelligent, wise beyond her years."

"Tell me about it. I had noticed it before, but I didn't realise just how mature she could be until today."

"So what were you two talking about?"

"Well, you, actually."

"Me?"

"Yeah. She told me I had to be honest with you."

"You haven't been honest with me?" Kate said letting go of his arm as she stood up looking at him incredulously.

"It's not that I've been dishonest, it's just I haven't told you everything."

"What haven't you told me?"

"Man, this is harder than I thought it would be."

"What's so hard Castle?" She was not angry, but confused and almost upset but she wasn't sure she needed to be.

"I like you Kate," he said.

She raised one eyebrow, and him waiting for him to say something more.

"I like you and I care about you, and Alexis said I needed to tell you."

"Rick, you don't think I know this already? We're friends, it's what friends do. We care about each other, and well if we didn't like each other, well then we wouldn't be friends and I wouldn't be here right now," Kate said. She knew there was more to it than that, but she wasn't sure whether she was ready to accept it or admit to it just yet. She hoped if she tried to play it down, Rick would just leave it at that, but he had other ideas.

"It's not like that and you know it," he said, reaching out grabbing both of her hands to pull her closer so that she was standing in the space between his knees in front of him. "Alexis said that I wouldn't have gotten so upset about last night, if I didn't have feelings for you, and she was right. I do have feelings for you. It's more than wanting to be friends with you Kate. And I know that I'm probably not in the right place to start anything right now. I just got out of rehab, and your dad has and gosh it'd probably be a mess but, somehow you make me happy in ways that others can't. Alexis can see it, I'm pretty certain my mother can see it, and your dad does too. They all see it, and we have been ignoring it."

"Rick…"

"I'm not saying we need to jump right into anything, but Alexis said I needed to tell you. I needed to let you know how I feel so that if you didn't feel the same, then I could forget it and just keep things the way they are, knowing it wouldn't go any further. But after everything we've been through in the past week, I really believe we could be something Kate, like _really_ be something if we wanted it enough."

"Castle," she said loudly, "just be quiet for a minute would you." It all made sense. It was true. If they tried to really start something now, it would probably be a mess, but Rick had been completely honest, so she knew she needed to be too.

"Sorry," he said and he zipped his mouth closed, just like Alexis had done a few nights ago.

"I do like you, probably more than I'm willing to even admit to myself right now, but it's like you said, it's not the right time. I need to focus on my dad for the time being."

"I understand," Rick said nodding, and he let go of her hands.

Kate lifted one hand to his cheek. "I'm not saying no, Castle, I'm just saying not right now. Let's just see how the next week goes okay, and we'll talk again."

She bent over him and placed a light kiss to the corner of his mouth as a promise to him. She then took one of his hands in hers and lifted him up, "C'mon then, we should be getting back before someone comes looking for us."

She went to take a step away expecting Rick to follow but instead she was pulled back towards him and into his chest where once again he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a warm embrace. Kate did the only thing she could do, she returned the hug circling her arms around his back and they stayed there a moment.

"Thank you," Rick finally whispered in her ear before letting her go. "Now, we can go back."

They walked side by side letting their shoulders bump into one another from time to time.

At some point on their way back, Kate allowed her pinky finger to hook into Rick's. When Rick felt the small gesture, he couldn't help but smile. It wasn't much and he knew she said they couldn't start anything right now, but he believed this small act was the start of something bigger.

* * *

_**Well, there's the chapter I know many of you were waiting for... I hope I did it justice. Let me know either way. Do you think Rick should have been angry? Should I have written it differently? I'm not going to change it obviously because, it's posted now, but I'd be interested in your thoughts. **_

_**And a random comment because that's what I do... I lost 6kg this year but I think in the past week with the amount of chocolate I've eaten I've possibly put 3 of those back on. I think I'm going to put it down to all the good tv shows now being on a break, and I'm depressed so I'm eating chocolate. That's probably not really the reason, but it makes me feel a bit better :)**_


	15. Chapter 15

Jim couldn't have felt any happier than he did when he woke to his daughters' laughter on Sunday morning. Laughter could have only meant one thing, everything had gone well between Rick and Kate and she was smiling again, and the thought of his Katie happy, brought joy to his heart.

When he came out of his bedroom he saw the two of them standing either side of the doorway to Alexis' bedroom.

"What are you two up to?" he asked walking towards them.

"Alexis is a really heavy sleeper, we can go in there and do absolutely anything, and she just doesn't wake up. It's really quite entertaining," Kate said.

Jim blinked a few times somewhat confused and simply shook his head at the two of them. Rick really was bringing out a more fun side to his daughter, they were acting like children. He kissed Kate on the forehead and then continued down the hall to the bathroom.

"Ok, this is my favourite thing to do," Rick said once Jim had gone again. "We need to be quick about it though, she almost woke up once while I did this before."

"Right, what do we have to do?" Kate said like she was on a mission.

"Well, I need you to get as many of her stuffed toys as possible while I slowly take off her blanket. Then we surround her with the toys and get outta there as fast as we can. Eventually, she gets cold and wakes up and it's really funny to see her face when she realises she's surrounded by stuffed animals."

Rick was so excited to be sharing his silly games with Kate, and the fact that she was even willing to participate made it that little bit more exciting than usual.

They did just as he said. Kate picked up an arm load of stuffed animals, she didn't know why the girl had so many, but she wasn't going to question it, and once Rick had removed the blanket they went about quickly placing the toys around Alexis. When she started to stir Rick quickly grabbed Kate's arm and pulled her back out the door. Rick left the door open because this was the best part, the part when Alexis woke.

They took their places either side of the door but when Rick realised there was no way Kate was going to be able to see his daughters face, he pulled her over to his side and stood her in front of him. Placing both his hands on Kate's shoulders he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "This is the best part."

Now that they were standing there waiting for her to wake, Kate was beginning to think this was not such a great idea. After their talk the night before, they were both aware of each others feelings but had decided not to do anything about it just yet. And now here Kate was, with Rick whispering in her ear, and resting his hands on her shoulders while standing extremely close behind her. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and all she could think about was leaning back into him, and feeling his arms around her like she had the night before. But she couldn't. She had told herself she would wait until things were better, when she knew her father was better, and Rick too.

Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm her quickening heart.

"Beckett, she's waking up, quick look," Castle said with excitement. More excitement than Kate really thought necessary, but it was kind of cute when he was like this. It was sweet that he still wanted to play games with his daughter, and she was about to find out just what Alexis thought of his games too.

The cool air stirred Alexis from her sleep and at first she reached her arms down looking for her blanket, but as she moved her arms around all she felt were stuffed toys. It didn't take long for her to realise that her dad was playing one of his crazy tricks on her again. She could hear him snickering outside her door. She grabbed the nearest toy and flung it at the open doorway.

When the toy came flying at them Kate jumped backwards forgetting how close Rick was standing behind her. As she did Rick was knocked backwards from his feet. To remain standing upright he grabbed onto Kate but completely failed, and they both ended up falling backwards with Kate landing quite heavily onto Rick's chest.

She immediately rolled to the side to make sure he was okay, and when she realised he was still laughing, she knew he was fine, and she started laughing again herself.

It took a moment but they eventually stopped laughing and just lay there side by side.

Rick turned his face to Kate who had rolled onto her side, and had rested her head on her hand, using her elbow to hold her head up. She looked down at Rick and raised her eyebrows. "So, do your little morning games always end like this? Almost getting knocked out by a stuffed toy?"

"It's a stuffed toy Kate, it's not going to knock you out."

"Maybe not, but you pulling me to the floor could do some damage."

"Hey, you're the one who jumped back into me," he argued.

He had her there. She did jump back away from the flying stuffed toy that was really not any danger to her at all.

"I have to admit though, it was kinda funny," he added.

They both remained as they were for a moment, looking back at each other.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" Rick said eventually.

Kate didn't respond she just took her eyes away from him and looked towards the floor. Rick had a feeling she didn't believe the words he had just spoken, and nothing was going to stop him from making sure Kate saw herself the way he did, beautiful, even if they had decided it was a bad time to start anything between them.

Rick rolled over onto his side to face Kate and mimicked her position. With his free hand he pushed the stray strands of hair back behind her ear so he could see her face again. "I mean it, and I can see you don't believe it, but you should know that you really are a beautiful woman."

There were so many other words he could use to describe her, but he decided that was enough for now.

Before Kate could respond or Rick could say anything further they were interrupted by two sets of eyes staring down at them and the sounds of throats clearing. One at their heads and another at their feet. Jim had obviously finished in the bathroom, and Alexis had come out of her room to see what was going on.

"Comfortable Katie?" Jim asked, looking down at her.

"Uh, yeah" she said, more like a question than a statement.

"Dad?" Alexis said looking down at the pair on the floor.

"What?" he asked, and Alexis gave him a look that told him she wanted an explanation.

"Okay, Kate was scared of Mr Grizzly Bear when Alexis threw him out and she jumped back and we fell on the floor. Is it really comfortable? No. Are we comfortable? Yeah, I think we are," he said smiling towards the woman beside him.

Kate quickly picked herself up off the floor not wanting to be questioned any more. "For your information, I wasn't scared of Mr Grizzly Bear."

"So why did you jump back then?" Rick asked.

"I don't know why Castle," she responded scrunching her face up at him. "Maybe I didn't jump and it was really you who got scared and pulled me down with you," she said matter-of-factly.

"That sounds more like it," Alexis said with a laugh.

"Well, Alexis, dad," Kate said looking from one to the other, "how about we go organise some breakfast. I think Martha may be down there with the coffee already."

The three started walking towards the stairs leaving Castle laying on the floor.

"Hey, what about me? Is anyone going to help me up?" he called after them.

Alexis and Jim continued down stairs while Kate turned back to Rick. "C"mon Castle, I managed to get up myself, surely you can too."

Rick pouted making Kate roll her eyes at him, but seeing the look he was giving her, she couldn't not go help him up. She held her hand out to him and stood him up but as she went to let go of his hand, he refused to let go of hers, and he pulled her to stand next to him again.

"I meant what I said earlier, before we were interrupted, and I will keep telling you until you believe me." He placed a kiss to her temple but before she could say anything he continued talking, "Stunning. Now let's go see what's for breakfast."

They walked towards the stairs and Kate had completely forgotten her hand was still linked with Castle's until they reached the bottom and he let go. It was evident that he was making his own rules about the two of them, and she was surprised when she realised she actually didn't mind. She appreciated that he was trying not to overstep, particularly in front of the others in the house.

* * *

Due to it being drizzly outside they decided that they would spend the day indoors again. Martha and Jim had both gone up to their rooms for an afternoon nap and Alexis and Kate were talking upstairs. Kate expected just a short answer when she asked about the stuffed toys, but Alexis took her up to explain the story behind each and every animal. Castle was left on his own for a while so decided he would get some more writing done.

He had been writing a lot in a notebook that he'd be carrying around, but this time he decided to get out his laptop, and really start putting his ideas together. He set himself up downstairs rather than in his office, not wanting to shut himself away from everyone when they came out from their rooms.

Rick was so engrossed in what he was typing, he didn't realise Kate and Alexis had come back downstairs until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you writing?" he heard Kate ask.

He quickly closed the laptop and turned his head towards the voice, finding Kate behind him looking over his shoulder.

"It's nothing," he said, sounding blunter than he had expected. He was still unsure about how he was going to tell her of his plans for the new character based on her.

"Sorry," she said. "You're writing, I should leave you to it."

Kate removed her hand from his shoulder and went to walk away but was stopped when Castle quickly turned in his seat and grabbed her hand to stop her.

"No, it's ok. I've written enough. I didn't mean to sound rude, sorry. You just surprised me. I didn't hear you come downstairs," Rick explained. "Stay"

"Well, actually," she said looking down at their hands and for some reason she felt nervous. "Alexis and I just found more games, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us."

"Alexis, you and games? How could I say no?" he said with a wink.

"Well, come on then dad," Alexis called out.

Rick wasn't sure where Alexis had come from, but he wasn't going to keep her waiting, so he jumped out of his seat and followed Alexis, pulling Kate along with him.

Alexis had cleared a space in one of the rooms and had set up the Twister mat.

Rick looked from Kate, to the mat, and then back to Kate with wide eyes. "Twister?"

"Yeah, it's fun," Alexis said, not seeing the worry in her father's eyes.

Kate shrugged. "It'll be fine Castle." There was slight teasing tone to her voice, like she knew exactly what she was doing even though she knew the reason he was worried.

Castle knew how twister worked, and he knew they could end up in some very compromising positions. Knowing the electricity that seemed to be sparking between them lately, he was feeling slightly anxious about it. What was Kate trying to do to him?

Rick nodded, still worried. "Yeah, ok, yeah, it'll be fine."

When Alexis was making sure the mat was smoothed out and the furniture was out of the way, Rick took a step closer to Kate. "I hope you know what you're doing Miss Beckett. I am not to blame for any…"

"Castle," she said, placing her finger to his lips and stopping him mid sentence. "Just have some fun."

Kate knew exactly what twister was like and she knew she had told Castle that she didn't want to start anything with him right now, but that didn't mean she couldn't tease him a little. It wouldn't be any different from how they had been behaving all week, only this time, they had an excuse to be closer for longer periods of time. Of course, with Alexis there, there was no chance of them stepping over the line they had set for themselves so really there was nothing to worry about.

The first few minutes Castle was being so careful to stay where he was on the mat and not go anywhere near the others. He wasn't worried about Alexis at all. What he was worried about was his body being extremely close to Kate's.

Kate figured out what he was doing and decided to spice things up a bit so she purposely started placing her hands and feet closer to Rick, watching him squirm a little each time.

At one point in the game, Castle found himself crouched next to Kate with his face not too far from her ear and his arm over her body. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" he said to Kate.

Kate shrugged. "Maybe," she said with a smirk.

They continued to play on with Kate purposely trying to tangle them more while Rick was trying to untangle them, all the time Alexis was completely oblivious to what was going on, and was really just enjoying the game.

A few moves later and their positions became more awkward. With Castle positioned like a crab with one leg oustretched, Beckett was leaning over the top of him, her arms either side of his body. It wasn't so much an awkward position to hold, but Kates face was so close to his neck, and he could see right down her top, even though he tried not to look. He could feel her breath on his skin and he found himself having a hard time controlling his body. The heat between their bodies was almost too much and he knew his body was stiffening. The even more worrying issue was his pants that were suddenly beginning to feel quite restricting.

"If we stay here much longer," he said quietly in Kate's ear, "I'm not sure I'll be able to control what happens."

"Too close?" Kate said and then really thought she'd test how much he could handle and she blew gently up from his neck towards his ear, causing him to shiver. "Bet your even closer now," she whispered softly into his ear, but he had no response.

There was no way Rick was going to be able to get a single coherent word out after that little stunt so he just took a deep breath, counted to three in his head and then tried to relax and concentrate on the game again, but Kate was making it extremely difficult. He could just give up but he didn't want to give in to Kate that way and he didn't want to have to explain to his daughter why he couldn't continue the game.

Kate was actually enjoying the proximity more than she expected. She was appreciating his body and his scent, and she just had to remember to do her best not to look directly at him. She knew her cheeks were flushed red and she knew he'd probably already noticed, but she wasn't going to look at him to let him see exactly how flushed she was feeling.

A few moves later, he was out of trouble, and he calmed down but he knew it wouldn't be long before Kate would put him in an awkward position again, unless he could beat her at her own game.

He was lucky enough to manoeuvre himself to just the right position. His plan may not be perfect and was sure to be slightly embarrassing for him, but he hoped it would have just the right effect on Kate making her forfeit the game so he didn't have to. His feet were almost tangled with Kate's as she leant forward in front of him and his body was soon to be basically on top of hers as he reached over to place his right hand on the circle next to her right hand.

It took less than a few seconds for Beckett to collapse on the floor and crawl away.

"Castle!" she said looking at him.

He lifted his hands off the mat and stood up. "What?" he asked.

"I think you know what," she returned looking from his face down to his crotch and then back up again.

"I told you I can't be held responsible for that."

"What's wrong Kate?" Alexis asked.

"Oh," Kate said, remembering the ten year old was in the room. "Um… your father accidentally squished my hand," she lied.

"Really? It didn't look like he touched you from here."

Castle could not stop the cocky smile from showing on his face.

"Right, okay, well, we're going to go sort my hand out, I think maybe you should find another game now." She grabbed Castle's shirt, not caring where her hand landed and pulled him out of the room before Alexis could respond.

When she thought she had found somewhere far enough away from Alexis she stopped and turned back to Rick poking him in the chest. "Seriously? What was that?"

"I think you know exactly what it was. I told you it was a bad idea. You said it would be fine. I'm a guy Beckett, and look at you. You're hot, and we're playing twister and you started it. You blew in my ear, and let's not mention how flexible you are. Do you realise what knowing that does to men?"

Kate glared at him.

"And you kept putting yourself in these positions, you can't tell me it wasn't affecting you too," he said knowingly.

Kate was doing her best not to smile, but in the end she couldn't help it. The whole thing was kind of funny, and she had to admit, their closeness had awoken a want within her. Or was it a need? She didn't really know anymore. She found herself wanting to rewind to the night before and take back words she'd said and just dive into something together. Without realising, she dug her teeth into her bottom lip and looked the writer up and down.

"See, I knew it," he said. "Admit it Kate, you want me." And again his cocky grin had made it's way to his face.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "You go fix yourself up, and then come join us for another game. No more twister."

She watched him turn and walk away and a part of her was tempted to follow him, but she wouldn't, she couldn't. They had boundaries that she wasn't willing to cross. She never expected things to heat up as quickly as they had. She just hoped they could continue to control themselves over the next week.

* * *

_**We're back to having some fun again :)**_

**_Thanks for all the feedback on the previous chapter... it's all very much appreciated. Glad you liked how it went, now I can stop worrying about it. To all the newcomers to the story... WELCOME! I hope you are enjoying this. _**

**_And something random... I've been listening to music all day by a young teenage singer from Brazil... and I have no idea what he's singing because it's not in English but OH MY GOODNESS DOES HE HAVE A VOICE! If he was 10 years older I'd be flying to Brazil to propose haha! (Yes, it's really that good!)_**


	16. Chapter 16

After breakfast the following morning, Alexis invited Kate to join her and Martha for a ladies walk, through the Bridge Gardens. She thought it would be nice to have a girls day out.

Seeing the obvious uncertainty and worry on Kate's face about not being there with her father, Rick assured her that he would be there with him the whole time and that he wouldn't be left alone.

"It might be good for me and your father to talk. You will be the first to know if there is anything you need to be worried about, but he's fine Kate. He didn't have a drink the other night,"

"I know," she said.

"And you know he's not going to," Rick continued.

"I know."

"If there's other reasons you don't want to go today, then that's fine, just let me know, but if it's simply because you're worried about your father, you don't have to be. You don't have to keep putting your life on hold. You know you can trust him here with me"

"I know. But the last couple of days, it's just I've been right here with him, the only time I wasn't was when we went walking along the beach," she looked down at her feet as she continued, "but even then I wasn't far away. Are you sure it'll be okay?" She knew she really didn't need to be worried but she still had that vision of him with a whiskey bottle in front of him, and even though she knew he hadn't actually had a drink, she still worried about leaving him again.

"Kate," Rick said placing his finger under her chin and lifting her head to look at him while running his other hand down her arm and then resting it on her upper arm. "Everything will be fine," he assured her.

Looking into his eyes, she believed everything he said. Everything would be fine, Rick was there, and there is no one she would rather leave alone with her dad right now. She did trust him. The level of trust she had in him surprised her, especially after everything she had said to him only a few days earlier. It just made her realise even more that she really had not meant a word she said. It was all said in fear. She trusted Rick, more than she had ever really trusted anyone. It was most probably due to the fact that he had actually befriended her father when he had no one else and was in desperate need of a friend. It meant a lot to her, even if he did do it only because she asked, he still did and he had remained friends when he really didn't have to.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there, his finger resting under her chin while giving her a comforting smile. His finger eventually moved from under her chin and he pushed the few strands of stray hair back behind her ear, but their eyes did not leave one another and no words were spoken. It was almost as if they were trying to read more into what wasn't being said, things they could only read through their eyes.

Not wanting to make things awkward for the pair who seemed to be lost in each other, Alexis and Martha slowly and quietly left the room. Martha had wanted to stay, curious to see what was going to happen, but thinking of Alexis, she decided against it.

It took everything within him for Rick not to lean over and gently place his lips over those that were right in front of him. Ever since he felt them briefly on the corner of his own the other night, he could only imagine how it would feel to have them completely. But he couldn't. They couldn't, and they knew it. But standing there looking at her now, he couldn't take his eyes away, even if he wanted to.

Kate gently placed her hand on Rick's chest and started fiddling with his shirt buttons, just wanting to feel closer, but she remained unable to tear her eyes from his. She felt his chest rise as he took in a deep breath and his heart quickened under her fingertips. She knew her heart was racing too but she just couldn't draw herself away from him. Why did they decide they had to wait? She felt herself leaning forwards, leaning towards his lips that looked so soft, so inviting. Just one kiss, it would be fine, she just really needed it right now. She took a step closer to him so there was barely a centimetre between them, closed her eyes and leaned forward.

"Kate," Rick eventually breathed out as she got closer, realising as Kate's eyes closed, she wasn't going to stop herself, she was just about to kiss him. As much as he wanted it to happen, he couldn't let it. He didn't want her to regret it later and ruin any chance they had of being together when everything else was sorted out.

Hearing his voice, she suddenly stopped, opened her eyes and looked down at her hand resting on his body. What was she doing?

"We can't Kate."

"Dad," she said remembering exactly why she was there again. She had to think of her father.

Rick quickly pulled Kate into his arms, knowing that she needed something, and if he wasn't able to give her his lips, he could give her his embrace. She didn't try to pull back at all, she joined him happily and turned her face so it was resting on his chest while returning the hug.

They stayed there for a moment until Rick pulled back a little and placed a gentle kiss on the top of Kate's head. "You should go with my mother and Alexis. I'll be okay here with your dad."

She nodded. "Thanks."

* * *

"So what was going on in the kitchen this morning?" Martha asked as Alexis ran up ahead of them at the gardens. She had been waiting to ask for quite some time, but with Alexis there it made things difficult.

"It was nothing," Kate quickly said.

"Really?" Martha responded in disbelief. "It didn't look like nothing to me."

Kate couldn't stop the blush from rising on her cheeks, and Martha grinned.

"He cares for you, and I can see that you two are holding back from each other when you should just be jumping in. You know, my son is a good man. You've said it yourself."

Kate knew what the woman was trying to say, and she was quite surprised. She had never come across a person's parent encouraging a relationship that hadn't even begun, but then again, her father had done the same thing to her at the beginning of the week, and back then, she and Rick had barely spent much time together. "I know," she said remembering the time she had let it slip that she thought he was amazing. "It's just not right, not now. There's too much going on."

"That may sound like a reasonable excuse to you, but is that really what your heart is saying?" Martha questioned.

"It doesn't really matter. Rick is here for Alexis, and I'm here for my dad. The last thing we need is," she paused, she really wasn't the type of person who would talk about things like this. "We really just need to focus on what we're here for."

Martha wrapped her arm over Kate's shoulder and pulled her in close.

"I understand, really I do. But, give it some thought. What we need isn't always what we think we need. Sometimes, we think it's better to follow our head but it's our heart that's right."

"Really, no, there's nothing. We've all been living under the same roof for the entire week, things could be completely different under different circumstances."

Kate thought about the words Martha had just spoken as they continued making their way through the gardens. She was right, Kate was following her head and not her heart, but both she and Rick decided it was best. Surely two people couldn't be wrong, could they? And besides, she still wasn't sure she knew what she wanted. Rick had been great over the past week, they'd had the one big argument, but he had been so forgiving, and so understanding, and since then she felt like they were becoming closer. She was having fun with Rick while still feeling like she was there for her dad. She was happy to keep things that way.

Spending the time at Castle's beach house with his family turned out to be a great idea. Instead of it being just herself trying to get her dad through this stage of his recovery, he had a whole family again. But there was no way to know what would happen when they went back to the city. She would be going back to work, Rick would be writing again, she may not even see him, and if they weren't spending so much time together, maybe whatever it was she was feeling would go away. She didn't want to start something when she couldn't be certain of whether her feelings were real or just a result of their current situation. She had ignored her heart for so long she really didn't know how to know what it wanted anymore.

At some point in her thinking she must have stopped following Alexis and Martha because looking around she discovered she was on her own. Martha and Alexis were ahead looking at some bright red flowers, so she went over to join them.

It wasn't long before Alexis was once more ahead of the women and Martha spoke up again. She could be really persistent.

"You know what I think," she said. "I think having you here has really helped us this past week."

Kate looked at Martha puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Richard has been a different man. I haven't seen him this happy in a while. It's been great for Alexis, she's got her father back. He's always tried to put on his happy face, and play games with her even when he was feeling down, but Alexis could always tell. So she would put on a brave face herself, put on her best smile and just play along with him. But now, it's not fake anymore, they've both got real smiles again."

"Yeah, I guess that's what the rehab is for. It puts you back on track. My dad has been better too."

Martha stopped Kate and placed her hand on her shoulder turning her body to look at her eye to eye.

"No," she said shaking her head. "That's not what I'm saying. Yes, you're right, rehab is great. But the smiles, the happiness. That's all because of you."

"Oh, I really don't think so Martha."

"I do," Martha winked, and then she quickly walked away to catch up with her granddaughter again.

Kate was left alone with her thoughts once more. Could everything Martha was saying be true? Was she really that helpful to Rick and his daughter? She didn't feel like she had done anything. Rick did mention that she had made him happy, but she really didn't think much of it. He's only been out of rehab for a week, she didn't think it was possible to really know where the extra happiness had come from, so she hadn't taken those words completely on board, but now after talking to Martha, maybe there was some truth in everything he had said. Maybe she was helping him in ways she hadn't realised.

* * *

While the women were out of the house, it gave Rick and Jim a great chance to discuss how they felt they were going, and have an honest conversation about the whiskey incident without being interrupted.

They sat opposite one another at the coffee table and for a while things were unnaturally awkward. They had been getting along fine, and had spoken a lot about their addictions while they were in the rehabilitation centre but for some reason, this was more difficult than expected.

Rick was the first to speak.

"So, how do you really think you're doing Jim?"

"Well, this past week has been a lot easier than I expected. I know it doesn't mean everything is going to be perfect once I go back to the city and go back to my life, but I don't know, I really thought there'd be more temptation than there has been. I still miss my wife, but I didn't expect rehab to fix that. It has helped me realise though that drinking isn't going to bring her back, and it isn't going to stop me from missing her," he sighed before taking another sip of coffee.

"The other night, with the whiskey," Rick began, "you really weren't tempted?"

"No, I really wasn't. It's like I said. I was trying to figure out why I had found it so appealing in the first place. Why I had allowed it to take control of my life. I now know that my life is bigger than the bottle, and Katie needs me. I've realised that she hasn't been able to grieve for her mother properly herself, she hasn't been able to have a life because she was too busy trying to save mine."

Rick nodded.

"And now, just this week she began to find herself again, I really can't thank you enough for helping her," Jim finished.

"I don't think that's had anything to do with me. I think seeing you doing so well has really helped her. She's still worried, as I expect my mother and Alexis are for me, but maybe seeing you get your life back has allowed her to start finding her own again."

Jim smiled at the man in front of him. He could tell Rick had no idea what he had done for Kate and himself. Rick and his family had been just what he and Kate needed, but he would get to that soon. First, he needed to be sure Rick was doing okay.

"Well, let's talk about you then. How are you doing?"

"Much the same as you actually, finding things much easier than I expected. I'm sleeping without the need for pills and actually sleeping really well, probably better than I have since Alexis was a baby. And I'm writing again."

"So no chance of going back to those pills then?"

"No way," Rick said, shaking his head. "I've seen what that did to my daughter, I couldn't do that to her again."

"Good, so now we can get to what I really want to talk about."

Rick looked at Jim with a confused expression. "Which is?" he asked.

"My daughter."

"Kate?"

"Yes, of course Kate, have I ever mentioned any others?"

"No, I'm just not sure why you want to talk to me about Kate?" Rick asked even though he already knew the answer. He was really hoping to avoid this conversation. He wasn't sure he was ready for it.

It was obvious that Jim had seen the interactions between Rick and Kate and he was reading into them. But how was Rick meant to talk about it when he really didn't know what it was himself. He didn't know what it all meant, or if it meant anything. Sure, Kate hadn't exactly turned him down at the beach, they had made a decision to wait, which meant there was a possibility for more later, but he didn't know if that would ever really happen once they got back to the city and back to their own lives. How was he meant to talk about something he didn't know anything about himself.

"C'mon Rick," Jim said. "It's obvious you have feelings for her. I can see it in your eyes even now. Just the mention of her name and you get this look about you. It's the look of a man who is, dare I even say it, falling in love. I just want to remind you, once more, that she is my daughter."

"No disrespect to you or anything Jim, but I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. Falling in love? That's not possible. It hasn't really been that long since we met that first time at rehab. And the past week in the house, yeah we're having fun and all, but it's not love."

Jim raised his eyebrows giving Rick a look that reminded him of Kate, and he smiled when he pictured her giving him the same look. That's when it hit him. Maybe Jim was right. Maybe there was a lot more to his feelings than he realised.

After giving Rick a few minutes to process his thoughts, Jim spoke up again. "Rick, you're a good guy, you've been a great friend to me, and to Katie too, so there's just a couple more things I need to say and then I'll be quiet about it, because I can see you are uncomfortable with this conversation."

Rick looked the man and nodded.

"When we get back to the city, she may try to run, but don't let her."

Rick shook his head.

"You've been good for her, you make her happy, and I think she does the same for you."

Rick still didn't speak, only nodded.

"She'll talk in her own time, be there to listen but don't force anything out of her."

The nodding became shaking again.

"It'll only shut her up and won't allow her to heal. And one more thing,"

He nodded again.

"Don't hurt my little girl."

Finally he spoke as he shook his head. "I won't"

And with that, Jim got up and walked away with a book to read outside leaving Castle with a bunch of thoughts in his head.

Love? Was it really turning into love? How could he love someone he was still getting to know? Lust, he could understand, but love, no way. He would still do everything Jim had asked though because he wanted to. He wanted to be there for Kate, he wanted to be the one that she opened up to, he was willing to be her shoulder to cry on when she grieved over her mother. He wanted to be the one she came to when things were difficult, he really didn't want her to shut him out. Maybe the one thing that he really did want more than he'd ever wanted anything before, but was too afraid to admit to, was her.

* * *

_**So, now they've had talks with each others parents... don't you love parents that try to interfere. Actually, my mum did that once in the worst most embarassing way. If you want to hear all about my embarrassment, review and let me know. I'll share it with you haha. I think the next few chapters will be a mix of some fun and some seriousness. I like to mix it up a little, too much seriousness without fun can be a little frustrating but we need the serious to move on... if that makes sense :)**_

_**Anyways, thanks for all the reviews etc and welcome to newbies to the story. It's funny I've actually been getting notifications from my other stories so people are obviously looking at what else I've written. I haven't written many but I will warn you that a couple of them are pretty crapola! haha**_

_**And I've had an idea for another story... got it while I was in the shower tap dancing... Yeah I'm that weird person that tap dances in the shower. You should try it out, it's fun, but a little dangerous... So I had an idea so once this is finished, I'll have something else to start work on. YAY! **_


	17. Chapter 17

"C'mon dad!" Alexis yelled, from the entrance to the aquarium.

Rick had pulled up and let everyone exit the car before finding a parking space. It then took another 5 minutes before he made it back to them and Alexis had been getting impatient. She loved visiting the aquarium.

Once Rick had reached the group Alexis grabbed his hand and tried to get him to walk faster. "We're going to miss the penguin feeding. You know I love the penguin feeding."

"Well, it looks like we're going to see the penguins first," Rick said to the rest of the group.

"Sounds great," Kate said. "I've always loved the penguins."

"Me too," Alexis said wide eyed and with her free hand she grabbed Kate's and started to pull her along too.

Rick looked over Alexis' head to Kate and gave her an apologetic look for her behaviour, but Kate just smiled back, she really didn't mind. She wasn't going to admit it, but she was kind of excited about going to see the penguin feeding.

They stopped at the front desk to pay for their tickets and Martha couldn't help but notice her granddaughter bouncing in anticipation. Once Rick had paid for the tickets she motioned for him to go ahead. "You better go find those penguins before this one explodes," she said pointing to Alexis. "We'll catch up with you."

Alexis and Rick quickened their pace until the young girl realised Kate wasn't with them. She stopped and turned back to those they had left behind. "C'mon Kate! Come with us or you'll miss it!"

Kate wasn't going to turn down the girl so she ran to catch up with them leaving Jim and Martha behind.

"They're going to be a while at the penguins," Martha said to Jim as they walked past the small coffee shop. "Would you like to stop and get a coffee?"

"Actually, that sounds like a great idea Martha," Jim said.

In the time that they had been in the Hamptons, Martha and Jim hadn't really spent all that much time just talking between the two of them, so Martha was interested to see if he had anything to say about her son and his daughter.

"So, have you been enjoying yourself Jim?" Martha asked once they were seated with their coffees.

"Yeah, it's been good to have some time away, especially with Katie here. We haven't spent this much time together in quite some time."

Martha nodded. "Well, I will admit, I was a little unsure about you joining us at first. I was worried, for Alexis, and I know I shouldn't have been, but I didn't know you, and I'd only met Kate briefly but you know, Alexis is my only granddaughter and…"

"Martha, it's okay, you don't have to explain. I completely understand. If I was in your position, I would have been worried too."

Martha let out a sigh of relief. "But now," she continued. "I'm glad you guys have come along. Kate has been really good for my son."

"Your son has been good for Katie," Jim returned immediately. "Since being here, she's really starting finding herself again, and she's having fun. I think Rick is a huge part of that."

"I don't doubt that at all. It seems they are both helping each other without realising," Martha added.

"It does seem that way," Jim nodded. "I will have to remember to thank the captain back at the precinct. Katie would have been working if he hadn't told her not to come in. From what I had been told, she wasn't really given much of a choice."

The pair laughed and sipped at their coffees.

"So," Jim started again, "I don't usually pry into Katie's personal life, but I think she's a little scared of what could come from this friendship, and of making it more."

"Richard is very much the same, I've been trying to push them in the right direction. Maybe not as subtly as I should but, sometimes subtlety does not work."

"You know I have been doing a little bit of nudging in the right direction myself," Jim said with a laugh. "I guess we just have to wait and see where this goes then. Wait for one of them to make a move."

They finished their coffee and stood ready to go back to find their children.

"I really can't believe I'm trying to encourage my daughter into starting a relationship," Jim suddenly said. "Don't most fathers worry about their daughters getting involved with guys."

"The difference is Jim," Martha responded. "You've gotten to know this one, you know that he cares and that's what we want for our kids. We want to know that they are cared for."

"I guess you're right."

"Let's go find them then, see if we can give them a little more of a push in the right direction. If we work together, we might just see something happen."

* * *

After the feeding of the penguins, Alexis just wanted to stay and watch them for a little longer. She walked up to the glass and just stood there in awe watching as they jumped in the water and swam past.

"I don't know what it is about the penguins," Rick said turning to Kate, "but she loves them. She would stay here all day if she could."

Watching Alexis looking at the penguins reminded Kate of when she was her age. She used to be the same, in love with the penguins and wanting to take them home. It brought back memories of visiting the aquarium with her mum, and her dad's words came to mind. '_We can remember her through our memories... Don't keep her to yourself, it's time to let her out.' _She took a deep breath, her father was right, it was time to start talking about her mum, it was time to remember her and love her through the memories.

"I used to want one as a pet," Kate said softly.

Rick noticed the change in demeanour and quiet tone to Kate's voice immediately, and could almost hear more emotion in it than he expected to come from such a simple statement. He knew there was obviously more to it. "Really? And what did your parents think about that?"

"Well, I'm not sure if they thought I was a little crazy for wanting one but they always said I couldn't have one," she said, remembering the many times the she asked to take one home. "They would say, 'no Katie, they're not pets'. Obviously now I know that, but I just remember getting so upset when my young ten year old mind decided mum had said no too many times."

Kate looked down at the ground and Rick knew she was going back in time in her mind. She was trying to open up about memories with her mother but was struggling.

"Your mum took you to an aquarium to see them when you were younger?" he supplied, hoping to encourage her.

"Yeah," she said looking back up to him. She could see a deep care in his eyes and she knew he was the right person to try to open up to. There was no reason to be afraid. "She took me to one in the city once, and I remember sitting at the penguins for probably an hour just watching them. We looked at other things too but at the end of the day, mum said I could go back and see one more thing again before we had to leave, so I went to the penguins. When she said I couldn't take one home, I got so upset that I ran off and locked myself in the bathroom. She was quick to come and find me but I wouldn't come out of the stall I'd locked myself in. I said I wasn't coming out until I got a penguin, I was quite stubborn. So mum sat there, and she explained to me everything she could about them, and she explained why I couldn't have one, and then she pushed a little plush penguin under the door that she had bought from the gift store and she promised me that we could come back and see the penguins whenever I wanted to."

Kate felt a single teardrop on her face but before she could reach up to wipe it away Ricks hand was on her face and his thumb wiped away the tear for her. He removed his hand and placed it on her shoulder then stroked it down her arm until he had a hold of her hand.

"And so did you come back and see them?"

"Yeah, we did for a while, but I eventually got over it. I'll never forget the look on my mums face though, when I unlocked the door of the stall I was in. She looked as upset as I felt. It upset her that she couldn't get me what I wanted. I don't remember asking for much as a kid, but the one thing I did want was that penguin."

Rick squeezed her hand. "She loved you""

"Yeah, she did, she would always tell me so. But I didn't let her know that I loved her too. I should have told her more."

Rick reached out for her other hand, "She would have known. A parent always knows." He pulled her closer and released her hands so he could wrap his arms around her body.

Kate immediately rested her head on his shoulder. Maybe sharing stories about her mother in a public setting wasn't ideal, because now she was getting emotional. But feeling Rick's arms around her, she felt safe and unashamed, and decided it didn't matter where they were, all that mattered was that she was sharing stories again.

When Rick pulled back, he looked at her with such care and adoration. "Thank you for sharing that with me Kate."

Kate smiled at him shyly, then took his hand and led him over to where Alexis was.

"Is everything okay Kate?" Alexis asked taking her eyes away from the penguins and looking up to the woman now standing beside her. She noticed there was a slight sadness in her eyes.

"Yeah, I am now." She felt Rick release her hand and almost reached out to grab it again, but then he placed her arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his side, and once again, she felt secure. "My mum and I used to love watching the penguins," she said to Alexis. "We used to give them all names. Like this one," she said pointing to one that swam by, "I'd call him flipper because he flips into the water. And this one," she pointed to another, "he would be flapper, because he likes to flap his arms about. And this one over here," again she pointed to a lone penguin in the corner, "he would be Jerome."

"Jerome?" Alexis said looking up to Kate and scrunching her nose in confusion. "Why Jerome?"

"He just looks like a Jerome to me."

"Right," Alexis said with a laugh. "Ok, my turn."

Rick listened with admiration as Kate now shared something she used to do with her mother, with his daughter. If they weren't in a public place and his daughter wasn't right there, he wouldn't hesitate to kiss her. He didn't care anymore about what they had said on the beach. He cared for her, he knew she cared too, the way they were standing, him with his arm around her, while she shared stories with his daughter. It was like they were a family already, and he knew it felt right. But instead of kissing her properly, he had to settle for placing a soft kiss to her temple. He wanted her to know what this moment meant to him.

When Kate felt Castle place a kiss to her temple, she found herself leaning into him a little more, and when he pulled his lips away she placed her arm around his back and rested her head on his shoulder. It just felt right, being there with him, and she wondered whether the decision that had made on the beach just a few nights ago was the wrong decision. Maybe now wasn't a bad time to start something after all. Alexis didn't seem to mind, and her father was doing fine. She wasn't going to say anything about it now, but she knew she needed to find time alone with Rick to talk about things again.

Alexis had been watching the penguins for a while before speaking up again. "Ok, that one, he should be named Swimmalim because he swims a lot." She continued to name a few more penguins and then got to the last two. "And these ones," she said pointing to two penguins standing together, "I would call them Rick and Kate."

Kate lifted her head from Ricks shoulder and looked at Alexis. "Why's that?"

"Look at them, standing together, and that one looks like she's got her head on the other one's shoulder. Just like you."

Kate turned to look at Rick and the look of joy that he had on his face was incredible.

"They look really happy like that," Alexis said, and both Kate and Rick weren't sure whether she was now talking about the penguins or trying to say something about them.

"I think they are pumpkin," Rick said as he winked at Kate.

"I know they are," Kate said looking back at Rick, and then placed her head back down on Ricks shoulder.

Martha and Jim had arrived at the penguin exhibit a few minutes earlier, but when they saw how close their children were they didn't want to interrupt them, and they stood back and watched with smiles on their faces.

"It looks like we did the right thing letting them go ahead ," said Martha quietly to Jim.

"It does look that way, doesn't it. Maybe they don't need as much of a push as we thought."

A few minutes passed and they eventually decided it was time to make themselves known.

"Oh, you are still here," Martha said coming up behind them.

Upon hearing Martha's voice Kate lifted her head and she had expected Rick to step away from her, but she was pleased when he didn't, and she placed her hand over his on her shoulder just to reassure him that it was alright, so that he would stay close.

* * *

The final stop of the day before leaving was the gift shop.

"Alexis, you can take a look around, but don't leave the store. If you find something you want, come and find me."

Everyone separated taking a look at a range of all different things, except Kate who stayed by Rick's side. The only time she had left it all day was to go to the bathroom. Rick wasn't going to complain, he loved having the gorgeous woman so close to him allowing him to hold her close with his arm over her shoulder or just simply with her hand in his. He felt like something significant had happened between them, they hadn't discussed anything, but when she shared the story about her mum earlier in the day it was like a switch was flicked and she was open for more.

Kate and Rick were looking at a range of keyrings and pens and silly little toys when Alexis called out. "Dad! Come have a look at these."

"You go, I'm gonna keep looking at some of these things here," Kate said.

A few minutes later, they had made a few purchases and were leaving the store. Alexis had a huge grin on her face and looked like she was extremely excited about something.

"I'm surprised you're still smiling Alexis," Kate said. "I always used to pout when it was time to go."

Alexis didn't respond she just looked at her father.

"Can we give it to her now? I can't wait til we get back home."

Rick handed the bag from the store to Alexis and she quickly jumped in front of them all to stop them.

"Kate, we bought you a gift. When I saw it, I thought it was perfect." Alexis pulled out a small snow globe with 2 penguins in it. The penguins were standing just like the ones they had seen earlier in the day. See, it's you and dad."

Kate looked from the young girl and then over to Rick and back to Alexis again. "Thank you Alexis. That's really sweet. I got you something too. She pulled out a fluffy penguin from the bag. I thought we could call him Jerome. He'll fit right in with all your other animals."

Alexis laughed, took the penguin in her arms and hugged it. "I love it. Thanks Kate."

The young girl then turned back around and started walking back to the car along with Martha and Jim but Kate walked slowly falling behind and grabbed Rick's hand so he would walk slowly with her.

"Thanks Rick, it was really sweet of you," she said holding the small snow globe in her hand. "I actually got you something too." She pulled out a smaller version of the penguin she had bought Alexis. "I wanted you to have something to remind you of today and this trip and really, I just didn't want you to feel left out," she said with a laugh.

Rick took the small penguin in his hands with a smile. "Hey, why's mine smaller than Alexis's?" he joked.

"Um, Richard dear, we don't know where you parked," Martha called from ahead interrupting them.

"We better catch up with them," Kate said and began to walk faster, with Rick closely following behind.

* * *

Kate and Rick were the last 2 remaining up that night. It had been an exhausting day so the others had retired to bed early.

After making them both a hot chocolate, Rick joined Kate to watch a movie. She was placing the DVD in the player when Rick appeared and he took his seat in the corner of the couch.

Kate closed the player and turned to face Rick with a smile.

"What movie are we watching?"

"Mary Poppins," she said with a grin.

"Really? Not what I expected."

"Well, I was looking through your DVD collection and when I saw this, I was reminded of the scene with the penguins, and thought it was perfect." The smile then dropped a little as she looked at her hands. "And it was one of mums favourites."

She was sharing about her mother again, Rick could not believe the day they were having. She had been so open all day and now, there was just no holding her back.

He held out his hand to her and when she took it he pulled her onto the lounge chair with him. She almost fell in his lap with the force of his pull but manage to control herself enough to turn and land in the spot next to him.

"So, your mum's favourite? She had good taste," Rick said and he reached forward for the remote and pressed play.

"Yeah, we used to watch it together and we'd sing along. Mum had the most beautiful singing voice," she said remembering her mum's voice, while picking up her drink.

"I'm sure she did," Rick said.

For a while they sat silently watching the movie and drinking their hot chocolate, but once their drinks were finished, Rick was curious to see just how comfortable Kate now was with him.

He placed his empty mug next to hers on the coffee table, then whispered in her ear. "Scoot forward a little."

She gave him a bewildered look.

"Trust me."

She did, and she scooted forward.

Rick grabbed the pillow from behind his back and placed it on the arm rest and put his legs behind Kate and essentially lay himself down behind her, while she sat just in front of him.

"Time to get comfortable," he said. "C'mon," he patted the space in front of his chest.

He could see that she thought about it for a second but was happy when she made movement to join him.

Kate grabbed the pillow that was at the other end of the chair and placed it in front of Rick's chest. She didn't want her head to be in his view of the television. Then she lay herself down on her side in front of him purposely leaving a little gap between their two bodies, knowing that they really needed to talk before taking any more steps towards wherever it was they were going but she felt his arm fall across her body and pull her in close, she didn't fight it or argue. Instead, she placed her hand over his and laced their fingers together while he rested one leg over hers, almost tangling themselves together.

They remained there for the rest of the movie, and by the end Kate was almost asleep.

"Kate," he whispered. "I think we should call it a night."

She slowly picked herself up from the chair, not sure she was ready to leave the warmth of his arms but knowing again, they really needed to talk. A part of her wanted to talk now, but she was sleepy and couldn't really trust the right words to come out of her mouth.

They walked up the stairs to their bedrooms together and stopped at Kate's door.

"Kate," Rick said, taking her hand.

Looking down at their joint hands, Kate spoke up. "Today was a really good day," she said. "Thanks for everything."

Rick took a step closer and placed his free hand on her cheek.

The butterflies were suddenly going crazy in Kate's stomach. She was nervous about what was to come, she wanted something to happen, but it also frightened her.

Rick had been close all day, they'd barely been apart and as she looked into Ricks eyes, she could see that despite their agreement to wait, he wasn't going to wait any more. And she was certain she didn't want him to.

"Kate," he whispered, while running his thumb over her cheek.

His hands were so soft and warm on her skin causing her to close her eyes and just take in the sensation.

"Hmm," she hummed.

"Kate, open your eyes, I need to know that this is okay."

Kate's breathing became heavy and her heart was thumping against her chest. He was being so gentle, so caring. His touch and his words were just so full of love. She opened her eyes to discover that he had stepped even closer and his lips were now just a whisper away from hers.

"I know what we said the other day, but I don't know that I can wait."

Kate nodded, and Rick wasn't sure if that was her nodding about what had been said previously or if she was nodding that it was okay to continue.

"Stop me if this is too much, but Kate, this isn't just about having a holiday fling, I want this and to be honest it scares me, and I know it scares you, but I think we both know that what we've got is special, and I want to explore that so unless you stop me I'm going to…"

Before he could finish his words Kate's lips found his own. They were so gentle and soft. It took a couple of seconds before Rick really knew what was going on and electricity ran through his body. It wasn't something he had ever experienced before, and then he knew he had to do something. He had to kiss her back. His hand moved around her neck and into her hair, holding her lips to his own a little longer. He wanted to memorise this moment. He wanted to remember her scent, and the feel and taste of her lips on his.

The kiss was enough to make Kate weak at the knees and so she wrapped her arms around Rick's neck just to ensure she didn't collapse in a heap in front of him. Knowing that he was holding back she began to wonder just what he was capable of and then much too soon, he began to pull away.

"Wow," whispered Kate, still millimetres from Rick's lips. She rested her forehead against his keeping her arms still his neck holding him close. She could feel not only her heart thumping but his too and she knew the feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, and all they had done was joined lips. It wasn't overly passionate, it was simple, but she felt so much in it, it was unbelievable.

"That was…" Rick started to say.

"Wow," Kate said again, causing Rick to let a gentle laugh out.

"Yeah. Do you think maybe we should…"

"Tomorrow Rick, we'll talk tomorrow. Right now, I think we should go to bed."

Rick raised an eyebrow.

"Seperately," she laughed letting go of his neck and pushing him away gently. It was incredible how quickly he managed to go from seriousness to joking, but she loved it. "Goodnight Castle."

Before she got too far away Rick quick reached out for her hand and pulled her back to him. He placed another chaste kiss on her lips. "Goodnight," he said but before letting go of her hand and he quickly placed another kiss to the tip of her nose causing Kate to let out a soft giggle.

He then made his way to his own bedroom, turning back to her when he reached his door to see that she hadn't moved and her cheeks were now flushed red while she was bit her bottom lip watching him. She looked like she was in some sort of a trance, so he blew her a kiss from his doorway, and waited to see if she would catch it.

Kate watched as he walked away, shocked at what had just happened. When she saw he blew her a kiss, she couldn't help but lift up her hand and pretend to catch is. She then placed two fingers over her mouth as if placing the kiss he just sent her way to her lips. And she returned the gesture. She watched as he too caught her kiss, then they both stepped inside their rooms and closed their doors.

* * *

_**This chapter makes me smile! lol**_

_**Seriously, how cool would it be to have a penguin for a pet!  
**_

_**Oh... random story... I have an EPIC bruise on my knee from being a show off! OOPS! I teach dance classes, and I arrived early and joined the musical theatre class before me, and at one point (don't ask me why) I thought it would be a good idea to fall into the splits... I did it and I have to admit, I thought I was rather impressive. I'm still extremely flexible considering my age, and capable of doing a lot more than others my age... Anyways, I didn't even notice that I'd bumped my knee until I got home 3 1/2 hours later and saw the massive bruise on my knee.. it seriously covers almost my entire kneecap... hehehe... The lesson I learnt: DON'T BE A SHOW OFF! **_


	18. Chapter 18

Kate woke the next morning with a great smile on her face. It was the same smile that had been there the entire night as she slept. Nothing was going to remove it from her lips.

She thought back to what it was that had brought the smile along in the first place and lifted her fingers to her lips. When she closed her eyes it was like she could almost still feel him there. She felt her body shiver as she remembered her first kiss with Rick, and she hoped it wouldn't be their last. It was obvious that something was going to happen between them, but they did need to find time to talk about it.

Kate rolled over to read the time and was surprised at how early she had woken considering the big day they'd had and the late night. The early start was probably a good thing though. It would give her time to go for a jog and decide exactly what she wanted to do now. She really needed to clear her head because the only thing she could think about was Rick's lips and how much she wanted them on hers once more. There was no way she could continue thinking like that the entire day without someone noticing.

When she made her way outside the first thing she noticed were the two figures dancing on the beach, just like she had the week before. The difference being, this time she knew exactly who it was, and she was tempted to join them.

It was Alexis that noticed Kate walking towards them first and she waved her over.

When Rick realised who Alexis was waving at he stopped dancing and just watched as the beautiful woman came to join them on the beach.

When she reached them, Kate sent a smile in Rick's direction and then turned her attention to Alexis. "Up early again?" she asked, and Alexis nodded. "Can I join your dancing?"

"We'd love you to," Alexis said with excitement. "Wouldn't we dad?"

Alexis waited for her father but he didn't answer. It looked like he had gotten lost inside his thoughts once again.

When Rick had seen Kate his mind immediately flicked back to the night before and the kiss that they shared, and he couldn't take his mind away from it. If Alexis wasn't there, he wouldn't waste any time and he would take her into his arms and reacquaint himself with those lips.

"Dad!" Alexis said again, snapping Rick out of his dreamy state.

"Sorry Alexis, what did you say?"

"I think he's daydreaming again," Alexis said to Kate. "He's been doing it all morning."

"What are you thinking about Castle?" Kate teased. She was pretty certain she knew exactly where his mind had gone because hers had been in the same place earlier.

"Penguins, I was thinking about the penguins," he said quickly, with a wink in Kate's direction.

"Seriously?" Alexis asked. "You've got _that_ look on your face and all you're thinking of is penguins? Should I be worried or are you just more crazy than usual?"

"Crazy, definitely crazy!" Kate answered for him. "Now Alexis, you have to show me your best dance moves and let me know how this dancing on the beach is done."

Alexis started her crazy dance moves again and Kate watched for a moment as Rick joined in. It wasn't long before she realised there really weren't any moves, they just jumped around and spun in circles flapping their arms about, so she simply did the same. Surprisingly she didn't feel stupid, it was actually extremely freeing. She possibly felt freer doing this than she would have if she had simply gone running.

They did their own thing for a few minutes but Rick had other plans. When Kate wasn't expecting it, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his body, placing his free hand behind her back and holding her in the usual dance position.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

"I'm dancing with you," he said with a grin.

Kate placed her free hand on his shoulder. How could she possibly say no to him when he was just so full of charm. She would dance with him, but that didn't mean she had to let him lead.

Rick noticed immediately that Kate took charge and pulled him one way across the sand. He could have argued that being the male, he should really lead but, he really didn't mind when a woman took charge, as long as he could take the reins at other times.

They danced together for a few minutes and then Castle whispered in her ear. "Ready for the big finale?"

"Go for it," she replied.

Alexis had already worn herself out and had spent the last few minutes sitting on the sand just watching her father and Kate. They just looked so happy dancing together, she didn't want to stop them. She noticed something different about her father this morning, he had been happy since leaving rehab but this morning it was like there was nothing in the world that could take his joy away. When she saw Kate with the same look of pure joy she knew there must have been something she missed.

When Rick started spinning Kate in his arms, Alexis knew her father was going for his big finish. He had done it on multiple occasions with her, and she was glad it was someone else's turn. It was fun, but sometimes her head would feel like it was spinning for ages afterwards.

Rick had tightened his grip around Kate's waist and started spinning, getting faster and faster until her feet started lifting off the ground.

Alexis actually found the scene funny and couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Kate too, couldn't hold back the laughter. She could hear Alexis laughing somewhere nearby and was glad Alexis was still having fun even though her father wasn't currently dancing with her.

Eventually the spinning slowed to a stop and Rick let go, but neither of them knew what was up or down, left or right. They had been left feeling extremely dizzy and they stumbled around while Alexis just continued laughing at them.

Unable to find her feet Kate reached out for Castle who she could sense was somewhere in front of her. As she did she tripped over and found herself falling, pulling Castle along with her, and they landed next to one another on their backs in the sand.

Rick lifted half his body up off the ground and looked over at Kate as she lay laughing and panting on the sand. She was just so beautiful and perfect, he couldn't believe how lucky he was to be spending this time with her. Before he could even control what his body did, he found himself leaning over her and placing a kiss to her lips.

When Kate felt his lips on hers again, she immediately responded kissing him back and just as she was about to lift her hand to reach behind his neck to pull him closer, she stopped. It was suddenly very quiet compared to a few moments earlier, and she remembered that Alexis was there. And she was no longer laughing. Without thinking she pushed Castle off with more force than necessary and jumped up onto her feet. There was Alexis, sitting there with her eyes wide and mouth open, staring at them.

Rick was still recovering from the hard push he had received and it hadn't occurred to him that the reason he had been pushed was because his daughter was there. But then when Kate spoke, his head shot up to see his daughter with a look of shock on her face.

"Uh, Alexis, I, uh, I really don't know what to say," Kate sputtered.

The look on Kate's face was a look of extreme panic and Alexis had a hard time keeping the surprised look on her face. It was only seconds before she cracked a smile and laughed at the woman standing in front of her.

"Alexis?" Kate questioned.

Alexis continued laughing. "The look on your face just then, like you were in extreme panic mode. Priceless!"

Rick took the opportunity to jump in before Kate freaked out any more. He stood and grabbed hold of Kate's hand to try and calm her before he spoke to Alexis.

"Alexis, settle down for a minute. We need to talk about what just happened."

Alexis started taking deep breaths in and out to calm her laughter and as she did Rick pulled Kate over to join him sitting with Alexis, placing himself between the two females. They sat down and he put one arm around Alexis' shoulders but never let go of Kate's hand wanting to reassure her that it was going to be okay.

"Alexis," Rick started. "Can we talk about this now?"

"It's okay dad. We don't need to, I understand already. You like Kate, Kate likes you, and you kissed."

"And you're okay with that?" Rick questioned.

"C'mon dad. I'm surprised it took you this long. Now aren't you glad you took my advice and told her how you felt"

Kate swallowed back the laugh that threatened to come out.

"Just don't go giving her your boy germs okay," Alexis joked.

"Hey, you said I didn't have any."

"Not to me you don't, but Kate might think you do."

Rick and Alexis both turned their attention to Kate and waited for her response.

"Boy germs? No, I think once they reach the age of 15," she looked at Castle who shook his head and pointed his finger up to the sky, motioning for her to increase the age, "18," his finger kept pointing up, "20?."

"25" Castle said.

"Ok, when they reach the age of 25, they don't have boy germs anymore," Kate finished, receiving a sweet smile from Castle.

Alexis laughed. "Well, should we go inside and find some breakfast now, or do you two want to stay out here and kiss some more?" she said giggling. She really thought the whole kissing thing was kind of funny and gross at the same time.

"I was going to go for a run actually, would you like to join me again?" Kate said.

"I think I'll stay here with grams, all that dancing tired me out today. We'll start breakfast for when you get back."

"Sounds great," Kate said and then turned her attention to the man next to her. "Castle? Care to demonstrate that stamina you mentioned last week?"

"Beckett, are you inviting me to come running with you now?"

"Yes, in fact I am." Kate said with a nod.

"Then I'd love to," He leaned in closer to Kate's ear before continuing, "and I'll have you know my stamina comes in handy for other things too."

Kate gave him a gentle push then waited on the beach while Rick took Alexis back up to the house and quickly changed into running clothes.

"Are you ready Castle?" Kate asked as he returned to her on the beach.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Just go easy on me okay?"

"You said you had great stamina?" Kate said with raised eyebrows.

"In _some forms_ of exercise, yes I do, but I may have been lying about the running."

Kate shook her head and started jogging at a steady pace. "C'mon then, let's see how you go."

They jogged about 5 miles down the beach before Rick started looking like he was going to fall in a heap next to her so Kate slowed down and allowed them to rest.

"We still have to go back you know," she said to Rick as he collapsed on the sand. "But I am impressed you made it this far. Maybe now's a good time to rest and we can talk before we head back?"

"Sounds good to me, just let me get my breath back." He sat up knowing they really did need to talk before they went back to the house. "Sit with me," he said, more an invitation than a command.

Kate used her foot to push Ricks legs apart and then sat in between them facing him with her legs either side of his hips and her feet resting in the sand behind him. It seemed like a very intimate position but Kate wanted to be able to see his face clearly when they spoke. She didn't want anything to be hidden.

"Hey," she said shyly.

"Hey back," he responded.

She had every intention of talking first but, now sitting there with Rick so close, all she wanted to do was kiss him again. Looking into his eyes, all she could see was desire. He wanted it too. Kate extended out her hands and placed them around his neck pulling him closer to her and his hands fumbled their way up her legs. Her body shivered at his touch and he chuckled as he ran his fingers up and down her legs again before resting them around her back.

They gradually closed the distance between them, tilting their heads slightly and closing their eyes until finally their lips met. The fact that they were a little sticky and sweaty from their run didn't seem to phase them at all as Kate began to play with the hair at the nape of Rick's neck.

Rick's thumbs began to rub small circles over the small of her back provoking more from her and she wasn't afraid to give it.

Kate opened her mouth to him and ran her tongue along his bottom lip pleading for more from him too, and when Rick felt it he responded immediately opening his mouth and taking her bottom lip between his.

The intensity increased quickly and Kate could do nothing to stop the moan from escaping as she felt Ricks tongue sweeping in to make its own discoveries about her mouth and claiming it completely.

She suddenly wanted to be closer, she needed to be closer. She began to wrap her arms around his neck pulling her body closer so she was practically sitting in his lap with her legs wrapped around him. She knew it was probably a little too much too soon, but she couldn't bring herself to stop or even slow down.

Rick groaned as Kate pulled herself closer to him. This woman seriously knew what she was doing. His hands reached for the hem of her top and his fingers searched for skin. He ran his hands under her top causing her to arch further into him, moaning again in pleasure and as she did he felt his own pants begin to tighten.

Kate knew that Rick was completely aroused and was probably struggling to hold back, but she wasn't ready to let him go just yet. Keeping one arm around his neck she released her other to run down and back up his arm and lightly finding it's way beneath his t-shirt sleeve. She just wanted to explore, to feel more of him and the gentle touch caused him to groan once again into her mouth.

Rick released her lips and started moving kisses across her jaw and onto her neck. Kate rolled her head back and to the side to give him more access and when he began to suck on her pulse point she found herself gripping tightly onto his bicep, and her legs tightened around his hips. She knew she would not be able to control herself much longer if they continued like this. She wasn't sure how he had done it, but he'd made her feel like no other had done before, and they were still fully clothed. She could only imagine what he'd be capable of in other situations.

"Rick," she whispered, almost breathless.

He stopped sucking on her neck and placed a trail of kisses up her neck to her ear. "You okay?" he said softly, before nibbling at her lobe.

Kate let out another small whimper, unable to get out any words. She was becoming painfully aware of the throbbing in her lower extremities and she knew she really needed to stop this from going any further.

She was just about to say something when Rick suddenly pulled away, "Kate, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have. I didn't mean. We shouldn't be doing this, not here, not like this."

Kate managed to pull herself away from Rick's body and rested her forehead against his. "No, I'm sorry, I did that. It was my fault. We do need to talk though," she got out quickly.

Rick looked around and then back to Kate. "I'm glad it's early, no spectators."

"Yet," Kate added. "If we stay here like this much longer, I'm sure they'll start showing."

"Sorry again, I think maybe I got carried away."

"Don't worry," Kate laughed. "You're not the only one. Maybe I should have rethought sitting like this with you."

"Oh no, I love this closeness. I just need more control."

"I think we both do," she laughed. "I guess we should talk then. Should I move?"

"Yes, maybe, actually no, wait, yes, I… ummm.." Rick stuttered. If she moved it would be obvious how much of an affect she'd had on him, but if she didn't move he wasn't sure his current problem would disappear. He looked down at the small space between them.

Kate laughed. "If that's what you're worried about, I am quite aware of it, and it's not the first time. Remember our Twister game."

"Right," he nodded. "Well, at least you know it works," he said with suggestive eyebrow waggling.

"Castle!" she slapped his arm playfully. She had to admit, she was quite impressed, but she wasn't going to tell Rick that yet. They still needed to talk. "So, are you getting up then?" she asked.

He couldn't help the smirk from appearing on his face. "I already am."

Kate raised her eyebrows, trying not to laugh and gave Rick the most serious face she could manage at that moment, which she guessed probably didn't look all that serious.

"Okay okay," Rick said understanding the face Kate was giving him. Even though it was rather cute, and made him just want to kiss her again, he knew he had to get up. "Maybe we can walk back in the water, I think me being waist deep will be really helpful since I don't have a cold shower handy."

Kate laughed but soon realised he was actually being serious. "Rick, we're in jogging gear, not swimmers."

Rick quickly crawled his legs out from underneath hers and he picked her up and started running towards the water, not giving her a chance to fight back. He thought about throwing her in, but he knew that may have been going too far, so once he was waist deep, he placed her in the water next to him, shoes and all.

"Who said running outfits weren't made for the water?" Rick said with a laugh.

Kate shook her head at him. She could have fought back and stopped this from happening, but she was having fun. She didn't want Rick to know that she was enjoying herself that much though so she put on her best slightly irritated voice, "Well, I'm wet now aren't I? Might as well stay here."

"Beckett? Telling me that you're wet is not going to help my little situation."

Kate slapped Rick in the chest lightly. "You know that's not what I meant at all," she said. "And _little_ situation? It didn't feel little to me," she continued without thinking. It was only a minute ago she was stopping herself from saying these things. It was like sometimes the brain stopped sending messages to her mouth or something.

"I'm glad you noticed, but this really is not helping. I thought we had more serious matters to talk about. Not that my size isn't serious."

Kate let out a breathy laugh. "Okay, we need to stop. You're right, we need to talk."

They walked silently for a while before Rick spoke again.

"Sorry about this morning, with Alexis," he said reaching out to catch Kate's hand in his own as they continued to walk through the water. "I got lost in the moment and I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine. You don't think she's going to tell my…"

"No, I asked her not to," Rick said before she finished his sentence.

"Good," Kate said relieved, and when she looked up at Rick she could see a slight frown appearing. He seemed to be worried about something. "Rick, it's not because I don't want this. I just wouldn't want my dad to find out from your daughter. It's something I need to tell him."

"So, what is _this_ exactly?"

"This is… I don't know. It's the start of something, something that I really think could be amazing if we did it right. You're pretty remarkable. The way you are with your mum and your daughter. This whole trip you haven't thought about yourself at all, it's all been for everyone else, you've even put me before yourself, and you really don't have to. I've just never known anyone who would do that before."

"Kate, I wouldn't say that everything I have done is for everyone else, it's been for me too."

"Yeah, but nothing has been purely for you. And you're… refreshing."

"Refreshing?"

"Yeah. All I have to do is walk into a room with you and it's like I get this new energy. I'm a different person around you. It's like I'm finding the me that I lost over the past few years. I feel more fun, I like fun, and after the 5 years I've just had, I need fun," she said squeezing his hand.

"So, what you're saying is that, you'd really like us to give this a go?"

"I know we said we should wait, but maybe we don't have to. Maybe now is the right time. There's still a lot I am getting through, and you probably the same, but maybe it'll be easier together. So, basically, yes, I would like to give us a go," she said shyly. "But only if that's what you want."

"Kate," Rick said and he moved in front of her stopping them from walking further. He reached down and held her other hand, now holding them both in his. "Of course, this is what I want. I told you that the other night, and it hasn't changed. The last couple of days I just feel like we've just been getting closer and closer, and yesterday it was like something happened, a switch was turned on. You opened up to me and honestly Kate, it was the best feeling in the world to know that you trusted me that much with your mother's stories. And I look forward to hearing so many more. And after our little beach session earlier, I am definitely not going anywhere, I want to know what more you are capable of," he said causing Kate to giggle a little. "This is definitely just the beginning. And I too, think it's the beginning of something really special."

He leant down and placed a quick kiss to her forehead before letting go of one hand and standing beside her again.

They continued their walk through the water, hand in hand, until Kate lifted their joint hands up and over her shoulder. She then leaned into his side placing her arm around his back beside her for the rest of the walk back.

"Can we not tell our parents anything just yet?" she asked softly. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that conversation with my dad right now. We'll tell them, but not right away. Let's just get to know each other, and explore this without any of the pressure from parents, because I'm pretty sure they're not going to make it easy on us."

Rick laughed. "My mother can be a handful when it comes to new relationships. So if that's what you want, then of course. I'll let Alexis know."

"Thanks Rick"

"So no kissing in front of them then?"

Kate laughed. "No, but you held my hand most of the day yesterday, so I guess we can still do that, if you can control yourself and not do anything more."

"Wait a minute," Rick said. "I held your hand? I think you were holding mine."

Kate looked up at him with a smile. "Whatever Castle!" she placed a chaste kiss to his lips and then continued on their walk back to the house.

* * *

**_Oh, don't you just love those two *sigh*_**

**_Random thought.. I'm pretty sure I have a bladder the size of a peanut which can become quite frustrating. So I'll be sitting here editing a chapter excited to be able to post another chapter for you all when the need to go to the bathroom arises. WHAT DO I DO? Well I keep editing the chapter and tell my bladder it has to wait! These are the choices I'm faced with all the time... prioritizing can be difficult but necessary! _**

**_Too much information? Maybe... but hey, that's just me! _**

**_Now go ahead, review, follow, favourite or just read and enjoy! The choice is yours! (Much like my choice to go to the bathroom or edit and speaking of bathrooms... I really do need to go so I should stop babbling.) ENJOY! _**


	19. Chapter 19

When they arrived back at the house Rick was thankful that his body had relaxed and he wasn't going to have to hide himself as he made his way to his bathroom. He was slightly unsure however, how he was going to explain why they had walked back waist deep in water.

They entered the house together, Martha was busy in the kitchen and called out a greeting but didn't turn to face them. Well, he wasn't going to have to explain to his mother.

Alexis was sitting on the lounge with her eyes glued to the tv. "We're back Alexis," Rick called to her, and she responded with a wave above her head, but just like Martha, she hadn't turned to look at them. Excellent, another one he didn't have to explain things to.

They walked up the stairs to go back to their rooms, and his luck changed. Jim was just about to come downstairs when he saw that his daughter and Rick were coming up stairs, in jogging gear, but wet from the waist down, including their shoes.

"What happened here?" he asked, as they reached him at the top of the stairs.

While Rick took a deep breath to give himself time to come up with a response, Kate answered.

"Resistance training," she smiled up at Rick, and watched as his face relaxed. "We hadn't planned it, but when our writer here wanted to come jogging, I just wanted to make things a little hard."

"Oh, okay, I hope you enjoyed your training session," Jim said and accepted the explanation, then continued downstairs.

Once Jim had gone Rick and Kate continued back to their rooms to shower and change. "Seriously Kate, 'make things a little hard'," he repeated her words. "Do you even realise what you're saying?"

Kate didn't respond with words. She simply smiled before disappearing into her room.

Knowing that everyone else was busy down stairs and Kate was going to go have a shower Rick quickly went to his room, removed his clothing and just put a pair of boxers on before crossing the hall to put his now wet clothing in the wash.

After closing the door to her room Kate removed her wet clothing and replaced it with a robe. She then gathered her outfit for the day and was just about to walk out to the bathroom when she noticed the basket of clothes from the past few days that still needed to put through the wash. She added her wet jogging gear to the pile, picked it up and decided she would put her things in the washing machine before going to the bathroom.

Kate used her back to push the laundry door open but when she turned to walk to the washer, she was surprised to see Rick bare chested, wearing only a pair of boxers, putting a load of washing on. He just continued what he was doing like she wasn't there, so thinking she wasn't being watched, she took the opportunity to really check out the body that was in front of her. Obviously she had seen him in the pool with his clothes sticking to his chest, but now here he was completely bare chested, and he looked great. He had muscle, but not too much and his chest looked extremely smooth, she really wanted to reach out and run her fingers along his skin, but she knew she couldn't. After what had happened at the beach she wasn't sure she would be able to stop herself from doing more now. They were back at the house, she had to remember her father was downstairs, along with Rick's mother and daughter. She wasn't sure how long she stood there just checking him out and hadn't even noticed that she had been found out.

"Like what you see?" Rick said suddenly, causing her eyes to snap up and meet his.

She blushed bright red, embarrassed that he had noticed her staring. "I've seen better," she teased.

Rick opened his mouth in shock and placed his hand on his heart like she had hurt him. "You wound me," he said.

"C'mon Castle, I mean it's a great washing machine, but it's a few years old now. There's better ones out there now," she responded with a grin.

"So you were checking out the washing machine then?"

"Of course, nothing else here worth checking out."

"Oh really?" Castle challenged, taking a step towards her.

"Really"

Kate remained standing by the door while Rick made his way over to her almost challenging her to do something, but she refused to bite.

As he got closer, Kate felt her heart begin to pound in her chest once more. "Too bad for you then," He said before leaning down to whisper in her ear. "From where I'm standing, there's definitely something else worth checking out." Then he pulled back making sure to make it obvious that he was running his eyes up and down her body and legs. He winked and then turned to walk back to the washing machine like nothing was going on between them.

"So, you wanna put your washing on? All I've got in there is my stuff from this morning, plenty of room for yours too," he said pushing some of the buttons on the machine.

Kate looked down to the basket she had forgotten she was holding. "Uh yeah, if that's ok."

"Of course it is."

She made her way to the machine, but Rick didn't look like he was going to move out of her way so she stopped and raised her eyebrows at him.

"What?" he asked as he shrugged his shoulders.

Kate just pushed her way in front of him and started emptying her clothes out. She could feel Rick standing right behind her, and she guessed he was probably looking over her shoulder. Knowing she should probably push him away before he caught a glimpse of something she wasn't sure she wanted him to see right now, she really didn't want to. The feel of his chest pressed against her back, the warmth radiating from him was just too good to lose.

The last few pieces fell into the machine, and right on top was a red lacy bra. Kate quickly shut the top of the machine hoping Rick didn't see it but, when she heard the small chuckle next to her ear as he leant forward a little more, she knew she hadn't been fast enough.

"Red lace?" he whispered. "Have I told you how much I like red lace?"

Kate didn't respond, and she didn't move from where she was. The last thing she wanted was for Rick to see the colour on her face which she was sure matched the underwear he had seen.

As Kate started pressing the buttons on the machine to start everything up she felt Rick run his hands down her sides and her whole body tensed.

"Kate," he said, removing his hands. "Are you," he swallowed, "naked under your robe?"

She bit her bottom lip and decided this time she needed to turn to look at him. "I was going to have a shower," she said matter-of-factly. "I didn't expect to be running into you."

Rick stood there just looking at her, wanting so badly to touch her again and to do so much more, but he couldn't. "Well, you should go have that shower, I'll finish in here." There was no way he was going to be able to continue having any sort of normal conversation with her knowing she was almost naked. Just that knowledge alone made it difficult to control his body.

Kate smiled up at him, sensing how much he was trying to behave. She reached her hand out to his cheek, lifted on her toes and gently kissed his lips. "Thanks," she said and then left the room making her way to the bathroom.

* * *

Rick was just coming out of his room as Kate finished in the bathroom, and they both made their way back to the laundry.

"I was just going to move the washing into the dryer."

"Don't even think about it Castle. I'll get it, I don't need you man handling my delicates."

"I don't know. Your _delicates_ may appreciate my hands. They have been known to be very careful and gentle when they need to be."

Kate turned towards the laundry biting her bottom lip, deciding not to give Rick any more to play with. She couldn't help it, she just kept saying these things without really thinking. She'd barely turned before she heard another voice.

"Who's careful and gentle?" Alexis asked coming out from her room.

"Oh, Alexis, I didn't know you were up here," Castle said surprised. He was glad to hear that she hadn't heard much of what they had said, although he couldn't really be sure about what exactly she had heard. "I was just saying the dryer is gentle with the clothing. Kate was just moving her stuff from the washer to the dryer."

Kate chuckled to herself as Rick explained. He covered that well.

* * *

"Hey Kate," Alexis called out to the woman laying in the sun. "Dad and I are going to make some choc chip cookies. Want to join us?"

"Sounds great," Kate called back. "I'll be there in a second."

A few minutes later, Kate joined Rick and Alexis in the kitchen. They were looking through what she guessed was a recipe book.

"We're trying to find the recipe we used last time. They were really good."

"Extra sweet," Rick added.

"If you can't find it, I have a recipe we can use." Kate said. "It uses condensed milk not eggs though, do you have any here?"

"No, but we can go get some if we need to," Rick said.

"So, you brought a recipe on holiday with you?" Alexis asked confused.

"Not exactly. It's one of my favourites from when I would bake as a kid. It's stored forever in my memory," Kate said to Alexis. "My mum and I used to bake cookies together," she added with a smile remembering the mess they would make.

Kate thought it almost unbelievable how easy it actually was to mention her mother. All these years she had fought with herself about even mentioning her to anyone, other than her father or the couple of colleagues she spoke with about the case, and it really wasn't that hard. Although, the ease of it may have had something to do with the people she was sharing it with.

As soon as Kate had mentioned her mum, Rick was moving from his place next to Alexis to stand beside Kate, letting her know he was there to support her. He wanted her to know that it was a safe environment to talk about her mum and that she could share her memories with him, with his family.

He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "If it's a recipe you and your mum used to make, then we'd love to make those cookies with you. I bet they're even better than the ones that we've made before. And I'd love to hear stories about young Kate baking with her mother, I bet you were quite a stubborn little one and wanted to do it all yourself, much like Alexis does."

Kate laughed. "Yeah, you could say that."

"We better go get that condensed milk then," Alexis said already making her way out of the kitchen.

* * *

Jim woke from his nap and smelt a familiar scent wafting through the house. Choc chip cookies. His wife and Katie used to make them all the time, they were his favourite, but when his wife died, Katie stopped baking and he hadn't eaten a single one since.

He hesitated going downstairs to the kitchen at first unsure of how he would feel eating someone else's baked choc chip cookies, but when he heard his daughters laughter, he had to know what was happening.

Jim made his way to the kitchen area, but no one noticed him enter. He just stood there and watched as his daughter shared stories with Rick and Alexis, stories that included her mother. He didn't want to interrupt her, not when she was finally opening up and sharing.

"So, this one time we were baking the cookies, and we thought we'd try something different," Kate was saying while adding the chocolate chips to the cookie mixture.

"How different?" Alexis asked unsure.

"Well, the recipe says to use choc chips, we had tried using m&m's, maltesers and revels but I wanted to try putting chewing gum in. I thought a mixture of crunchy cookies with chewing gum would be great. Mum wasn't quite so sure, and I should have listened, but I was stubborn, so I cut some pieces of chewy into halves and put them in the mixture."

Alexis was pulling a horrified face while Castle was giggling.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"Well, they really weren't that good. I completely ruined them with my chewing gum idea. Mum was really funny though, she wanted me to continue to try to expand my creativity, and so she said they weren't too bad. She must have eaten at least six cookies before deciding she couldn't take it anymore and threw them out."

"You sound almost as bad as dad," Alexis said. "You should see some of the food that he comes up with. I will admit, some of it isn't bad, but some is quite gross. Like mixing marshmallows with your eggs, that's just not right," Alexis said pulling a disgusted face.

"Hey, they're not that bad," Rick said defensively. "So Kate, did you have a lot of kitchen creative mishaps?"

At this point Jim decided to make himself known. "Oh she had plenty," he said.

"Dad?" Kate said, "I didn't hear you come down, how long have you been standing there?"

"A few minutes," he said walking over to place a kiss on her cheek. "I'm glad you're sharing your stories with him," he said softly into her ear.

"Me too," she responded.

When Jim looked at the mixture in the bowl and the ingredients around them, he recognised it immediately. "Is this…?" he looked up at Kate.

"Yeah, it's mums recipe."

"You remember it, after all these years?"

"I couldn't forget it even if I tried. It was our favourite. When Alexis said they were making cookies, I had to share it. There's a batch in the oven already, they'll be ready to come out soon."

"Oh, I look forward to trying them. I bet they'll be just as good as I remember."

"I don't know dad, mum was an expert in the kitchen, I don't know that they'll be quite the same."

"Don't doubt your abilities Kate," Rick stepped in, and placed a chunk of cookie dough into his mouth. "If the cookies are half as good as this cookie dough, they are going to be amazing."

Kate slapped his hand as he went to grab more mixture from the bowl.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"No more eating the mixture."

"I was going to roll it up to put on the tray."

All three sets of eyes that were in the kitchen looked at him with their eyebrows raised showing him that they didn't believe him and it honestly scared Castle a little. How were they all so in sync with each other?

"Honest", he said taking some more dough rolling it and placing it on the tray just as he said he would. "See."

Alexis and Rick continued to roll the cookie dough while Kate turned her attention back to her father.

"I'm just going to make myself a coffee, then going to watch television. Let me know when the cookies are done" Jim said.

"Of course. We'll bring some in to you."

Kate went back to helping the others with the cookies while Jim made a coffee.

Just before he left the kitchen he turned to Rick, "You should ask Kate about the time she nearly burnt the house down."

"You nearly burnt the house down?" Alexis asked horrified.

"It really wasn't that bad," Kate said. "Our cookies in the oven should be ready to come out so let's get these in and then I'll tell you the story."

After swapping the trays over Kate and Alexis took a stool each at the bar while Rick prepared a hot chocolate for each of them. According to him there was nothing better than a hot chocolate with a freshly baked warm choc chip cookie.

"One year for mothers day, I decided that I wanted to surprise mum with breakfast in bed," Kate began. "Dad said she really like eggs on toast. I was quite young at the time, and well, I really don't think I'd ever seen either of my parents making eggs on toast, so I got the eggs and the bread…"

"Don't tell me you broke the egg into the toaster?" Rick interrupted, handing one hot chocolate and a cookie over to Alexis.

Kate went red with embarrassment. "Actually, yes, I did. Needless, to say, the toaster didn't like it, and it wasn't long before flames started coming out of it."

"What did you do?" Alexis asked, wide eyed.

Rick came to take the stool beside Kate placing her hot chocolate in front of her. As he leaned forward to kiss her cheek she turned to say thanks and they found themselves in a semi-awkward kiss.

"Sorry," Rick said pulling away quickly. "Didn't expect your head to turn."

"Uh, yeah, thanks for the drink."

Alexis rolled her eyes at the two of them. "You might wanna try that again," she said to the couple. "That looked awkward. And then Kate, I want to hear the rest of the story." She covered her eyes, silently giving her dad permission to kiss the woman beside her.

Rick shrugged his shoulders and after a second, he leaned forward again and placed a quick kiss to Kate's lips, surprising her even though she had half expected it to happen. "She said I could do it," Rick said, pointing to Alexis.

"My dad is in the other room," Kate said quietly. "And your mother is upstairs."

"And they didn't see a thing," he said smugly.

As much as Kate wanted to tell him off, she really couldn't. It was kind of sweet, how comfortable he was with her, even around his daughter.

"Ok, now that's sorted," Alexis interrupted again. "What did you do about the fire?"

"I ran to get dad, who luckily knew exactly what to do and put the fire out rather quickly. So mum didn't get eggs on toast for breakfast, but I still took her cereal and a coffee. And while dad cleaned up the kitchen, I sat and ate breakfast with her. The morning didn't go as planned but it was extremely memorable. And I stayed out of the kitchen for a while after that."

"So you really didn't almost burn the house down?" Alexis asked.

"Not really, I did make quite a mess in the kitchen though," Kate laughed. "Speaking of messy kitchens, we have one right here."

"Alexis, would you like to take a couple of warm cookies to Jim, we'll get the kitchen cleaned and then we'll come join you," Rick suggested.

Alexis plated a couple of cookies to take to Jim while the others started clearing up. Kate was at the sink washing the mixing bowls and utensils when Rick came and stood close behind her, wrapped his hands around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Thanks for sharing your mother with not only me, but Alexis too."

"Of course," she said, leaning back into him. "Like I said, I want to do this right with you. I know it's still new but I really do want this to work, and I know you come as a pair, you and Alexis. I can't share everything about my mother with her, but I know she's important to you, so I'll involve her whenever I can."

Rick was speechless, no one had ever said anything like that about him and Alexis before. Most women knew Alexis was there but didn't show any interest in her at all. It touched him so much that he felt a tear fall down his cheek, but before he was able to speak, Kate spoke again.

"And thank you for wanting to know more, and for making it so easy for me to talk about her."

"It's nothing really." Rick replied.

"It's not nothing. It's everything I have needed for so long but have always been afraid of. I don't feel afraid when I'm with you."

They were silent for a moment, simply happy in each other's company.

Rick loosened his grip and turned Kate around to face him not caring about the water dripping off her hands from where she was doing the dishes. "You're amazing, did you know that?"

Kate didn't respond, she simply looked down. She never did know what to say when people complimented her.

"Really, you are," he said kissing her forehead. He then took one of the cookies and placed it in his mouth, "and so are these cookies."

* * *

_**So, if you've ever tried putting chewing gum in cookies let me know. I'm curious to know if it actually works! haha... I actually do quite a bit of baking myself... I love it, and mostly end up giving away the food because if I ate everything I baked... well my life would be very different and I probably wouldn't be able to do half the things I can do now. I make killer fudge though! And rum balls are also a favourite! mmmmmmmmmm**_

_**So there's some more irrelevant and useless information for you about me :) **_

_**Oh... this story now has more followers than my last story, which I was kinda excited about! YAY! **_


	20. Chapter 20

"You're really not going to tell me where we're going?" Kate asked from the back seat.

"Nope," Rick called back to her.

"Don't worry Kate, you're gonna love it," Alexis said excitedly from the seat beside her.

"C'mon, why does everyone else get to know where we're going? Even my dad knows."

"Well, of course he knows, it was partly his idea."

Kate looked over to her dad sitting on the opposite side of Alexis, and he just shrugged.

"Was it your idea not to tell me too?" she asked him.

"No, that was all Richard dear," Martha finally joined in from the passenger seat. "There's no need to be worried though. Alexis is right, you'll love it."

"So why won't anyone tell me where we're going then," she said starting to feel frustrated.

"Because it's so much more fun not telling you" Rick laughed.

"If you weren't driving, I'd throw something at you right now," Kate said making Alexis giggle. "Can you at least give me a clue so I can guess?"

"Hmmmm… okay." Rick took a moment to think, "We're going near water."

"Really? That's your clue?" Kate asked dumbfounded. "I figured that out when you told me to wear a swimsuit. Either that or you wanted to perve, but with my dad here I think you'd just get yourself in trouble. Give me a better clue."

"Sorry, no more clues."

"Castle, that wasn't even a real clue," she huffed. "Alexis, got a clue for me?"

Alexis laughed and shook her head.

"Dad? You know I love you," she said hoping to guilt her father into telling her.

"Oh Katie, I love you too, but that hasn't worked on me for years."

She sighed.

"Martha, pleeeeeease."

"Sorry dear, Richard has promised me a day at the spa when we return to the city if I keep this from you."

"Fine!" Kate crossed her arms and stared out the window. If they weren't going to tell her, she would just ignore them, rather than fuel their laughter with her eagerness to find out where they were going.

Jim laughed at her behaviour. It reminded him of when she was younger, and she didn't get her way.

She wasn't staring for long before she felt a gentle tap to her shoulder.

"Kate?" Alexis asked in a soft voice. "If you really want to know, I will tell you."

Kate turned to look at the young girl beside her. It was obvious that she was worried that they had gone too far and had upset Kate by not telling her. She placed her arm around Alexis' shoulders and pulled her into her side with a laugh. "No, I'm really just being silly. I actually think I like it being a secret."

"Really?" Alexis asked unsure.

"Yeah, really. If you all say it's going to be fun, then I believe you and I don't want to spoil the fun in your surprise."

"Good."

Kate expected Alexis to sit up and away from her once they had sorted that out, so she loosened her arm around her shoulder, but instead Alexis just leaned in closer. Kate smiled and tightened her grip again, allowing the girl to snuggle in.

Rick looked in the rear view mirror at his daughter snuggling in close to Kate, and it instantly made his heart melt. He loved that they were both comfortable with each other, especially if him and Kate really wanted to work at a relationship. Having a daughter was often what drove others away. They wanted Richard Castle, the author, but they didn't want Rick, the dad. They'd forever want to talk about his books but never his daughter. Kate wasn't like them, she barely talked about his books and she cared for his daughter. It was obvious she was more interested in Rick the dad, and she and Alexis really had become quite close during their holiday.

"What are you smiling at?" his mother said softly from the seat beside him.

Rick moved his head gesturing to the back seat and when Martha saw it, she turned back with a smile matching her sons. Alexis was an affectionate child, always willing to hug someone to say hello but to snuggle up to someone like she had, it was a sign that she really trusted them.

"She's going to be sad when it's time to leave," Martha said softly to Rick.

"Why?" Rick asked puzzled.

"Well, Jim will go back to his life, Kate will go back to hers and we'll go back to ours. She's going to miss them."

Although Kate could tell Martha was trying to talk quietly, she overheard. "Oh no she won't," she said from the back seat. "I'll still be around. We're coming to dinner at least once a week," she winked at Rick knowing he was watching her in the rear view mirror again, "aren't we dad?" she said turning to her father.

"Sorry?" Jim asked, not having any idea what his daughter was talking about. "This is the first I've heard of it."

"Oh Jim, I must have forgotten to mention it to you," Rick said, playing along. "We thought it would be good to catch up weekly. It'll keep us on track, you know. If there's anything we need to talk about. Plus Alexis is going to miss you and your stories."

The truth was Rick and Kate hadn't really discussed any plans for when they got back to the city, but a weekly dinner with everyone sounded like a brilliant idea.

"Yeah," Alexis said, lifting herself from Kate's side and looking to Jim. "You have some really interesting stories. I'd love to hear more."

Jim looked down at Alexis and nodded. "Right, weekly dinners sound fantastic then."

"And would you look at that," Rick said, stopping any further conversation from happening. "We're here."

* * *

"I can't believe you paid for all of this," Kate said following Rick into the small cabin on the yacht.

"Well, when your dad mentioned you'd never been out sailing before, I had to fix that. We're in the Hamptons, you can't leave without being on one of these."

"So, what was it you needed my help with in here?" she asked realising there really wasn't a lot in the small space.

Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her into him. "Well, I couldn't do this on my own," he said before kissing her.

"Our parents are only a few metres away," she said sternly pulling away, but she couldn't help but smile.

"It's okay, they're busy watching Alexis, and I really couldn't help myself. Look at you, you're stunning."

"You're not so bad yourself," she returned before brushing her lips briefly across his and then wiggling out of his arms where he'd tried to hold her close. "C'mon Castle, we can't stay down here, they'll wonder what's going on."

"Right, okay, well let's get the snorkels and take them out, then you and me are going to look at all the little fishies with Alexis."

She rolled her eyes at the childish way he spoke about the little fishes, but it did sound like a good idea. "Sounds great!"

When they came out of the cabin Alexis was out of the water and back in the boat.

"You've had enough already?" Rick asked. "We were just about to come and join you. We have the snorkel sets."

"It was boring in the water on my own," Alexis said. "But I'd love to go snorkelling. Kate are you joining us?"

"Of course. Who else is going to make sure your father behaves himself," she said putting on her flippers.

"Hey!" Rick said trying to sound upset. "I always put on my good behaviour cap around the water."

"Really?" Kate asked with raised eyebrows. She passed Alexis over her snorkel gear and stepped closer to Rick to whisper in his ear. "I'm not sure good is the word I would use to describe yesterdays beach behaviour."

Before Rick could respond she jumped off the back of the boat and into the water, splashing Martha and Jim who were both relaxing on the seats and enjoying the sun. The two parents stood up and shook their heads at Kate before making their way into the cabin away from any more splashing water.

"Sorry," she called out before getting her goggles and snorkel and putting them over her head.

Alexis was next to join her in the water, and Rick was fairly close behind.

"Did you put your good behaviour cap on dad?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, of course, I did. But you might want to check Kate has hers on. She's been known to cause some trouble at the beach."

"Trouble? Just you wait and see what trouble I can really be," she said seductively, swimming towards Rick and with a determined look on her face.

"You know I can't wait to find out," he replied with a smirk and wiggling eyebrows.

"Um… hello… 10 year old here, I'm not sure what's going on, but by the look on dad's face, this is highly inappropriate." Alexis said.

"Sorry Alexis, I am really placing my good behaviour cap on now," Rick said pretending to put a cap on his head. "Kate, here's one for you?"

Kate thought it was a little ridiculous but she joined in and placed the pretend hat on her head. "How about you Alexis?"

"We usually only have two, we've never needed more and I think you and dad need them more than me," she said with a smile. "So you've got mine today."

It was only then that Kate realised this was something Alexis and Rick had done on multiple occasions and the good behaviour hat was some kind of ritual. She had just been let in on one of their family moments, Alexis had given up her good behaviour hat to let Kate have it. Suddenly, the pretend hat didn't seem so ridiculous. It was sweet and almost felt like Alexis welcoming her into their little family.

"We'll have to make sure we get another one for next time," Rick said smiling.

* * *

"So, do you think anything has happened between those two since the aquarium?" Martha asked once she was comfortable in the small cabin.

"I don't know," Jim responded. "Katie didn't stop smiling at all yesterday, but that could just be because she's finally sharing things about her mother. It doesn't necessarily mean anything's happening."

"They have seemed closer," Martha added.

"But they were close before the aquarium."

"That's true."

They sat quietly for a minute.

"Look Jim, you and I both know our kids, and we both know they're stubborn, and we also know there's chemistry there that they don't appear to be doing anything about. So I think maybe we need to nudge a little more persistently."

"I couldn't agree more," Jim said.

"So, what do we do?"

Together the two came up with a plan for the evening, to give Rick and Kate some time alone.

They were interrupted from their conversation when Alexis popped her head in the cabin. "Grams, are you ready for lunch? We're starving."

"Lunch sounds brilliant."

Jim helped Martha get the picnic basket and placed it out on the deck where Rick, Kate and Alexis were now waiting, then climbed up to join them.

"Did you see any fish?" Jim asked no one in particular.

It didn't surprise him when Alexis nodded her head aggressively before answering.

"There was this one that scared dad. It was funny. I thought he was going to climb on Kate's back to get further away from it," she said laughing. "I'm glad he didn't though. Kate's a good swimmer, but dad is heavy."

Rick looked at her shocked and almost a little offended.

With a gentle bump to Rick's shoulder Kate laughed, "It's not like she's calling you fat Castle, but I do imagine having you on my back would cause my swimming ability to weaken."

The members of the two families, that were now beginning to feel more like one, all laughed and then continued to enjoy their lunch and the company they were with.

Martha couldn't be sure because of the towels Kate and Rick had wrapped around themselves but she had noticed they were both only using one hand to eat while the other remained hidden. She had come to believe they had their hands joined between them underneath their towel and she occasionally saw them sharing looks and smiles at one another. Everything she was seeing made her more excited about the plans for the evening.

* * *

Jim had just finished making dinner when Martha came down from her room with Alexis.

"Everything is ready," she said to Jim. "Everything good here?"

"Yeah, lasagne needs another ten minutes, so plenty of time for us to get out of here."

"Have you made the call?"

"Yes, everything has been organised, we've got about 20 minutes before Operation Caskett should be in full swing."

"And Alexis, you've got everything you need?" Jim asked the young girl.

"Yep, I got it ready and grams put it in your car when dad and Kate were both busy."

"Great!"

"Let's get this show on the road then shall we," Martha said with a flick of her wrist in the air making Alexis laugh.

Kate and Rick were sitting on the deck outside silently enjoying the sun when Jim came out to them.

"Lasagne has to be taken out of the oven in ten minutes but Martha and myself are just going to head to the shop to get some dessert. Alexis wanted to join us to help us choose, do you mind if we take her?" he asked Rick.

"No, that's fine. She's pretty good at choosing the right dessert."

"Well, we should be back in 30 to 40 minutes. So once the lasagne is ready, just turn the oven down so it'll still be…"

"Dad, it's okay. We know what to do," Kate said.

"Okay. We'll be back soon then," he said as he entered the house again. A few minutes later, Martha, Alexis and Jim were on their way to a hotel suite for the night.

They could have just left them alone for a few hours, but they didn't want to keep Alexis up too late and wanted to give Kate and Rick plenty of time to themselves. Jim was a little bit unsure about leaving them the entire night. Sure, he wanted them to have some time alone to realise how much they cared about each other, and to hopefully get to talk about it. But thinking about all the other things that could possibly happen made him a little unsure. This was his only girl, and he was trying to force a romantic night upon her. What if things went better than expected? He knew his girl was a grown woman but there are certain things that he just didn't think he would ever be the instigator of, and her sleeping with a man was definitely one of those things. In the end he decided he knew enough about Rick to know that he was a respectable guy and he had nothing to worry about so the plans went ahead.

* * *

_**oooooooooh... I'm excited! ahaha**_

_**Someone asked in the last chapter for the choc chip cookie recipe with condensed milk. So here it is: www. taste. com. au / recipes / 8781 / malteser+biscuits (remove the spaces) They are actually really good, I think the dough is better than the cookies. These are for maltesers, but works with all sorts of different things :) **_

_**Um... Does anyone else treat themselves to a massive bag of m&m's when they are sick. For some reason, even though I felt like I couldn't eat a thing coz my stomach is blah I still bought a bag of chocolate. What is it about brains that make us think that is the normal thing to do. I did also buy 2 boxes of tissues, so they better last me the week. I have managed to go through a box a day once before... my poor nose was ready to fall off! Anyways... that's a little bit more random information. Feel sorry for me if you must haha **_

_**Take it easy, you know what would be awesome... a review in rhyme... try it, it could be fun! hehe**_


	21. Chapter 21

Kate and Rick remained silently watching the waves crash onto the shore for a few minutes before going inside to prepare the table for dinner. Rick turned the oven down while Kate found the plates and cutlery.

"Hey Rick," Kate said thoughtfully. "You don't think there was anything weird about the way my dad was acting just before he left, do you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Just, he seemed a little, off. Like he was up to something."

"No, everything seemed normal to me."

"So, him taking both Martha and Alexis to the shop to buy dessert, that seemed normal?"

"It did at the time but, now that you mention it, that is a little strange. We've got plenty of ice cream and desserts here."

"And since when do my dad and your mum go to the shops _together?_"

They both looked at each other with wide eyes knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"You don't suppose…" he said suddenly.

"No, no, they couldn't"

"They've got Alexis."

"Yeah, that's true. It's nothing. They are just going to get something different for dessert, that's all," she said, but Rick was sure she was still freaking out.

He placed his hands on Kate's shoulders to calm her down. "Kate, there is nothing going on between our parents. I think we are over thinking this."

"Yeah," she said taking a deep breath. "You're right."

"Let's just continue getting the table set up."

They continued in silence, setting up the table but just as they were placing the last of the cutlery down, all the lights went out.

"Uh, Castle?"

"Stay here, I'll go check the junction box, it's probably nothing."

Rick returned a few minutes later, but the lights were still off. "Junction box is fine, it must be a power failure. We're not going to have sunlight for much longer, so I think we may need to find some candles."

"You don't have a back up generator?" Kate asked a little surprised. It's not like he couldn't afford one.

"No, I never really expected to even need one," he shrugged. "There's gotta be some candles around somewhere though, and then I'll call the electricity company to find out what's going on."

They both set off in search of candles and returned back to the kitchen moments later, both with a handful of candles. Rick found a match, started lighting each of them and placed them around the house giving them visibility to be able to manoeuvre around the house without too much difficulty.

He then called the electricity company but as Kate watched Ricks body tense, she had a feeling they were being extremely unhelpful.

"What did they say?" she asked when he'd hung up, gesturing for him to take a seat next to her at the table.

"Nothing. They told me they didn't know what had happened, and that multiple houses have been affected. They're not sure when they're going to be able to have someone round to take a look or have it fixed. We may not have power until tomorrow."

"Seriously?"

"That's what they said."

"I should call my dad, tell him what's happening and not to buy anything other than dessert. We don't want him getting more food than we need if it's going to go off."

Kate dialled her dad's number and she got quite the surprise when he answered within one ring. He was usually quite slow at answering his phone, although he had been getting better, maybe he had it in his hand.

"Hey Katie, did you need something else from the shop while we're here?" he asked.

"No dad, I just called to tell you that the power has gone out here, so don't get anything that we're not going to eat tonight. We're not sure when the power is going to go back on."

"Oh right, is Rick there?"

"Yeah"

"Can I speak with him for a moment?"

"Sure," Kate said tentatively. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just have instructions for the lasagne."

"You know you can tell me," she said, not sure why he'd asked for Rick specifically.

"Just give the phone to Rick."

"Ok, I will," she said hearing the seriousness in his tone. "Here he is. Bye dad."

She handed the phone over to Rick, who looked at her confused.

"He wants to talk to you," she said with a shrug. "Something about the lasagne."

Rick took the phone and placed it to his ear. "Jim?"

"Is Katie nearby, I need you to go to a different room for a minute."

"Jim? Is Alexis okay? Is my mother okay? Are you okay?" he said slightly worried as he moved into the next room. He gave Kate a nod of his head to let her know it was okay so she would stay where she was.

"Have you moved?"

"Yeah, I'm in the next room. What's wrong?"

"Everyone is fine. Alexis is just curling up in bed in her pajamas and Martha enjoying a book. And me, well I'm fine too."

"Sorry? I thought you were going shopping."

"Well, we may have lied about that."

"Jim, where are you with my family?" he asked. He wasn't angry, but he was extremely confused.

"We're booked into a hotel for the night. Martha and I wanted to give you and Kate some time alone." There was a slight pause, "to talk," he added.

"You're where and you what?" Rick asked incredulously.

"C'mon Rick. Both your mother and I have been watching you two and we know there is something there. We can see it, and we wanted to give you the opportunity to explore it without interruption, without having to worry about us, and we knew if we waited until we got back to the city, life would get in the way."

"So, what do I tell Kate when you don't come back in fifteen minutes like she's expecting."

"I don't know Rick. You're a story teller, you'll think of something."

"Jim? I can't do this. I can't lie to her, it's not right."

"Rick, how often would you find a father encouraging his daughter to be alone with a man for a night?"

"Uh, I don't imagine that would actually happen often."

"It doesn't but I trust you so, take this opportunity and use it well. Talk to Kate, really talk to her, get her to talk to you, I know she's started opening up but there's still a long way to go. She'll open up more if she knows it's just the two of you. Enjoy the night and have some fun."

"I think I can do that."

"But Rick, not too much fun. Remember what I said when we arrived. No matter how grown up she is, or how mature she is, she is and always will be my little girl."

Rick laughed nervously. "Jim, I think your daughter is remarkable, I respect her and I'm not going to hurt her so you've got nothing to worry about."

"Good, now go and enjoy a candle lit dinner. The lights will be back on in a couple of hours."

"You did that too?"

"Well, how else was I going to get to make you have a candle lit dinner without it being too obvious that we set it up. And she can't know we did this Rick. If I told her she wouldn't let it happen, and I really think it's important that you have this."

"Thanks"

They said their goodbyes and then Rick hung up the phone and went back out to Kate.

"So, that was a lot longer than expected. What did my father want?" Kate asked.

"Uh, nothing much. I told him to take himself, Alexis and my mother to a hotel for the night. We don't know how long the electricity will be out, they'll all get bored here."

"What about dinner?"

"I, uh, he said we should enjoy it. They'll order in."

"And so while they are in a hotel with electricity, we are here in the dark?"

"Oh, c'mon Kate, it's not that bad. We've got dinner, candlelight, each other. It could be nice, just the two of us for a while. And if we get bored, we can join them at the hotel."

Kate thought about it for a moment. He was right, a night alone did sound like fun. Her dad was fine. He was in good company. She should just enjoy herself because in a few days she would be back at work and unsure when she would have another night off.

She looked up to Rick who had been standing looking at her with a hopeful look on his face, which was absolutely adorable. Taking a few steps towards him she beckoned him over with her finger, and he took the remaining few steps until they were standing directly in front of one another. Ricks pulled her closer with his hands on her hips, and she circled her arms around his back.

"Candlelit dinner with you does sound pretty amazing," she said softly into his lips. "Maybe we can make the most of our time alone," she added before placing her lips over his applying a little more pressure than was really needed.

Rick pulled away slightly after a moment. "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves yet Kate," he said, surprised at the words coming out of his own mouth. He had meant what he said to Jim, he respects her. "We want to do this right. We can't rush into things the first moment we have. We can have some fun as long as we know when to stop."

Kate looked into his eyes and knew what he was saying was true. He wanted this, he wanted them, so much that he was willing to wait to make sure it was right.

"You are exceptional, did you know that?" she said, before letting her arms drop from around his waist and taking his hands in her own. "Let's just have dinner, talk and see what happens."

Kate removed some of the plates and cutlery from the table since it was now dinner for two, and Rick was just about to get the lasagne from the oven when he stopped everything he was doing and stood frozen still like he was processing an idea that had suddenly popped into his head.

"I'll be back," he said before quickly running upstairs, leaving Kate completely confused in the kitchen.

He returned a few minutes later after what was probably the fastest change he'd ever managed.

"You clean up nice Castle," Kate said as he walked towards her, in a fresh pair of suit pants, and a blue shirt which made his eyes stand out. He'd even gone as far as putting on a tie. "But now I look terrible," she added.

"You? Terrible? Not possible."

"Well, even so. I can't have you dressed like that without putting a little effort in myself."

As she ran past him Rick put his arm out catching her round the waist, and they spun together. He quickly placed a kiss to her cheek then let her go.

"Don't be too long. The lasagne will be getting cold"

Ten minutes later Kate returned in a simple black dress and heels. It was one of those little simple outfits that she was sure every woman had in case something, like an impromptu dinner, ever came up. She wasn't sure why she had packed it but right now, she was glad she did. The look on Ricks face told her that he was glad she had packed it too.

"Wow," he said. "I've known women to spend hours in the bathroom and would come out looking not even half as beautiful as you do right now."

Kate made her way to the table, biting on her bottom lip, trying not to let him see just what his words were doing to her. When she reached him she noticed that he had gone outside and trimmed one of his roses from the bush and placed it in a small rose vase in the middle of the table.

"So, it seems I forgot one thing," Rick said looking towards Kate.

"Oh no, Rick, I think you've got everything here. Not bad for an unexpected candle lit dinner."

"Well, almost everything," he said and he walked over to stand in front of her. "I forgot to ask you if you'd like to come on a date with me."

"And what does this date involve?"

"Well, first there's a candle lit dinner, and then, I guess we'll see where it goes from there."

Kate smiled up at him with not just her lips, but also her eyes. "I'd love to."

Rick picked up her hand and gently placed a kiss to the back of it, then walked her over to the table, and pulled out her chair out for her to take a seat.

"Rick," she said. "You don't have to do this for me."

"Well, I'm doing it, let me enjoy being a gentleman" he said as he placed a piece of lasagne on her plate. He then went around to his own plate to get his own dinner.

Kate laughed when Rick poured apple juice into their champagne glasses and placed one in front of her.

"We don't need the real stuff, but the glasses makes it more date-like," he said and she rolled her eyes at him.

They ate their lasagne for a while in silence occasionally glancing across the table at one another with a smile.

"Your dad makes a good lasagne," Rick said after finishing his second helping.

"Yeah, he does. Mum taught him. She was such a great cook."

Rick watched as Kate's expression turned from one of joy to one of worry.

"Kate? What's wrong?" he said reaching out and covering her hand with his on the top of the table.

"I was just thinking. I know we said there is nothing going on between our parents, but what if my dad is ready to move on? What is he does find someone? I don't know if I'm ready for that. "

Rick knew immediately that this was something they were going to have to talk about, and it wasn't going to be easy for Kate, so the table was probably not the best place. He rose from his seat and walked around taking Kate's hand in his, and lifted her to stand in front of him.

"Sorry Rick, I shouldn't be talking like this. We should just enjoy this night we have."

"No, we're not going to push this aside. I don't want you to feel like you need to hold things back from me. If there's anything you need to talk about, I want you to know you can talk to me. No matter where we are, or what's happening. But since we've finished dinner, I thought we'd be more comfortable somewhere else."

He led the way to the lounge and sat down in the corner, gesturing for Kate to sit beside him, and he turned his body to face her with his elbow resting on the back of the lounge and his head resting on his hand. Kate mimicked his position bending one leg onto the chair. Rick wanted her to feel safe and comfortable so he placed his free hand on her knee and began drawing gentle circles with his thumb, hoping it would be soothing for her.

"Tell me Kate, what's going on in that head of yours? I'll stay here as long as you need me to."

"I'm not sure what my dad has told you about how my mum died," she said before pausing and looking up at him.

Rick took it as a sign that she wanted to hear what he already knew.

"He said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she was taken too soon, but that's about it. He never went into detail about what had happened."

"She was," Kate took a deep breath. "She was taken too soon. She was stabbed in an alley, and whoever did it was never caught. They said it was random gang violence, but my dad and I, we've never been happy with that which is why dad started drinking and I joined the NYPD. Dad was trying to drown everything because he didn't know what else to do, and I wanted to solve the case so I could get some answers to save my dad from himself and for some closure. But now, dad's better and don't get me wrong, I love that he has sorted himself out, but what if he no longer needs the answers. Drunk or not he was always really supportive of me being in the NYPD, of trying to find the answers, what if him being sober changes all that?" She closed her eyes before speaking again. "There's just so much that I'm not sure of," she said opening her eyes again, as a few tears fell down her cheek.

Rick lifted his hand in an instant to wipe the tears from her face. "Kate, your dad loves you, he will always support you no matter what. And even if he is better, and he's stopped drinking, that's not going to make him stop wanting to find out what happened to his wife. He loved your mother dearly. Whenever he mentions her, he gets this look in his eye. He's always going to love her, just like he's always going to love you. He's found a way to live without the answers and without drinking, but that doesn't mean that he no longer wants to find out the truth."

"And what if one day, he comes home with someone. I don't know if I'm ever going to be ready to see that. He just loved mum so much, I can't imagine him with anyone else. But he's moving on now. I know he's not forgetting her, but like you said, he's finding a way to continue living without the drinking. What if that involves finding someone new to spend his life with? I would want him to be happy, but no one can replace my own mother."

"Nothing could ever really prepare you for that and you know what, the way he talks about your mother, I'm not sure he would be looking for love again. He loved your mother more than I ever thought was possible, and even though she's gone, that love is a love that lasts forever. I think your mum was _it_ for him, she was _the one_, I'm not sure he'll want to look for someone else. You never know how you're going to react to something until it happens, but if your father does one day find someone new, I'll be there for you, no matter how you respond, good or bad, I want to be there."

Kate was silent for a moment, just taking in his words. He was already thinking of the future, and he wanted to be there. Most of the guys she had been with before always thought day to day, she'd never really considered even thinking about the future so soon in a relationship. She didn't even know if what they had would be considered a relationship yet. He was talking about how her mum had been the one for her dad. Did he really believe that? Did he believe in true love? Kate didn't think she'd ever experienced true love, but what she was beginning to feel for Castle was a lot stronger than she'd ever felt before. She wouldn't call it love, it was too soon, but it was definitely something. She always believed there was only one man for her, she wasn't sure who it was, but right now, she was beginning to think that Rick may just be that man.

"Did you think you'd found _the one_ with Alexis' mum? Did you think you had a love that would last forever?"

"I loved her, and as much as I wanted it to be that forever kind of love, I think I always knew it wasn't. We were young, and foolish, we weren't right for each other. The love your parents had, that's a love that I'm still yet to find, and hope to find. And I think when I find it, I'll know. Maybe not right away, but I'll know."

"You know, I'll never forget the look on my dads face when we found out about my mum. I see it at night sometimes, I get nightmares, I see my mum lying in the alley, blood pooling around her, and I see my dad's terrified face. I don't think I'd ever seen him look so empty. In a matter of seconds all the life was drained from his body. It was horrible Rick. He loved her so much, how could someone take her away from us like that? How could anyone do that to him?"

She was finally letting go of things that she had been holding onto and Rick knew it was only going to get worse. He had to get closer, had to let her know she was safe and comfort her however he could, but in their current position it was extremely difficult.

Kate closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears she knew were threatening to fall, and she felt Rick move. Before she knew it, she felt him behind her, turning her body towards him and into his body. As soon as her head hit his chest, she lost control and the tears began to fall.

Rick ran his fingers through Kate's hair and circled his hand over her back just trying to console her in any way he could. It wasn't how he had envisioned the night but, he knew she needed to get it all out. She was finally grieving in a way she had not yet allowed herself to grieve.

"Shhh Kate, it's okay. I'm right here for you," he said, trying to soothe her.

"What makes a person get a knife, and stab it multiple times into another human being? What makes anyone think they have any right to take a person away from their family?" she said between sobs.

"I don't know. I really wish I could answer those questions for you. If I could take the pain away, I would do it in an instant."

For the next few minutes Rick just rocked Kate against his body, while she let everything out. All the tears she'd been holding in. The fear, the worry, the pain, all came out with those tears.

As much as Kate hated to be so vulnerable, she was glad Rick was there. Having his arms around her made her feel safe and loved. The sobbing eventually died down to a sniffle and she spoke again. "She's gone Rick. She's really gone. And I miss her. There's so much of my life she's never going to see. My future, she'll never get to see it. It's not fair. I can't do anything to get her back. I just miss her."

"I know you do."

He held her close as she let out more tears. He wasn't prepared to let her go until he knew she had no more tears to cry.

Kate pulled away from Rick's chest and wiped her eyes with her hands. "I'm sorry Rick, I must look horrific."

Rick took her hands in his own. "Never. You look more beautiful now than ever." He meant it. There was just something about her being so open with him, which made her more beautiful. She trusted him, and he felt like the luckiest guy on Earth.

Kate smiled. She actually smiled. After all those tears, neither of them would have thought it possible so soon.

"My mum would have loved you," she said, and then laughed. "What am I saying, she did love you. She had all of your books."

"With the stories I've heard about your mother, I'm pretty sure I would have loved her too."

Kate leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. "Thank you Rick, for everything. I'm sorry I've ruined our night. It could have been really special, and now…"

"You know, even if this isn't what I expected tonight, this is better. Opening up to me, sharing everything with me, and allowing me be here for you, I couldn't have asked for more. Maybe it's not the easiest night emotionally, particularly for you, but I think it brings us closer. You know you're not alone, and I want to be here when you miss her, and when you just want to remember her. This is just the beginning." He paused to briefly kiss her temple. "Besides, the nights not over yet. I'll go clean up in the kitchen and get the ice cream from the freezer. It's probably like soft serve now, and we'll come back here, eat ice cream and relax."

"I'll come join you in the kitchen, I'm just going to go clean myself up first. I'm sure I've got mascara running down my face."

"I think the Kiss look suits you," Rick joked, getting another smile from her.

Kate was in the bathroom when the electricity came back on and was relieved. It was extremely difficult to remove messy make up when she could barely see what she was removing. She quickly reapplied a little bit of eyeliner and mascara to try and look a little decent but with her puffy red eyes and blotchy face it was difficult to look good. She couldn't believe Rick still thought she looked beautiful when she thought she was a mess.

When she returned to the kitchen Rick was doing the last of the dishes and didn't see her come back in. She snuck in behind him and hugged him resting her cheek on his shoulder blade.

"Thanks again," she said, and just stood there for a minute while he washed up, moving along with him, and just enjoying his warmth and his scent.

When the dishes were finished, Kate let go. Rick picked out a tub of ice cream and led Kate back to the lounge. Although the electricity was back, he didn't turn the light on, leaving the room glowing in candle light.

"Movie?" he asked.

"Actually, how about some music?" she returned.

"Of course," he said as he walked over to the stereo. As he turned it on, his Lionel Richie album began playing softly. "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Perfect. Now come eat some ice cream with me," she said patting the seat next to her.

Rick took the seat and Kate curled into his side. They sat together sharing what was left in the tub of ice cream, just enjoying the music and the company.

When the ice cream was finished Rick got up from where he was sitting, and Kate was just about to protest but he stopped her.

"Would you care to dance?" he said.

"It wouldn't really be a date without dancing," Kate said, taking his hand and standing with him.

Rick walked them over to the stereo and turned it up a little. It was playing Hello and he smiled as he spun Kate under his arm before taking the usual dancing pose, holding one arm out and placing his other behind Kate's back.

Instead of holding their arms out, Kate pulled them close between their bodies and leaned into Rick's chest. There was something about him that just made her feel safer when she was close. A part of her had expected him to run after she'd broken down earlier, she didn't want him to and was glad when he didn't, but it was what she was always afraid of. She'd never found someone who made it safe for her to share without the fear of them running away and leaving her. It made her feel even safer with him, she knew she could completely trust him.

They swayed quietly to the music. No words were needed between the two of them. Anything that needed to be said could be felt through the way they were dancing together.

Rick felt like he could stay there dancing all night, he didn't want to let Kate go, but when she wiped her cheek with the hand that had been on his shoulder, he pulled back, noticing a few stray tears that had made their way down her cheeks.

"Kate," he said softly, "What's wrong?"

She smiled. "Nothing, this is perfect. You're perfect." Another few tears fell down her cheeks.

"Kate?"

Kate let go of the hands that were holding and wrapped them both around his neck pulling him close again. "These aren't unhappy tears anymore. Let's just dance a little longer."

Rick kept one arm wrapped around her back, and used the other to wipe away the tears from her face before also placing it around the woman dancing with him. He pulled her close so that they were dancing cheek to cheek.

A couple of songs passed and Kate continued to dance with him, with her eyes closed. She knew he was there, she could feel him, she didn't need to see him. She just focused on everything else, his scent, the feel of his arms around her back, his breath on her neck and mostly the way he made her feel. For the first time in years she finally felt like things were beginning to go right for her, she was able to live for herself, she found herself wanting things she had been putting off. She wanted love. She wanted Rick, and she hoped that what she was feeling was real. She hoped that everything he was giving her would still be there when they went back to the city.

As My Endless Love was coming to an end Kate pulled her cheek away and looked up into Ricks eyes. Seeing what she thought could possibly be love, she rose up on her toes and kissed him lightly and he returned it immediately. They stopped swaying and got lost in each other. It was passionate in a way that neither had experience before. It wasn't a crazy exploring kiss, it was just lips moving over lips. They remained like this for a minute until Kate pulled away slightly.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

* * *

_**Put your hand up if you hate me right now hehe**_

_**So, that actually ended up longer than other chapters, I could have split it, but I decided not to. The funny thing is in my original plan... this night didn't even happen. It's funny how sometimes you write something and it just goes in a different direction, then you have to work it all out again...**_

_**If anyone has any ideas on how to make a nose stop running they would be much appreciated. Pretty sure I'm going to go through my tissues faster than I'd hoped :( I'm also supposed to be singing on Sunday and I'm determined to be better by then which means lots of bed rest and writing. I was meant to go to a bonfire tonight... but I'm missing out :( I don't like being sick! It does give me more time to write though so I guess that's a good thing! Finding the positives in everything... that's what I do! Anyways, I will stop rambling now :) **_


	22. Chapter 22

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Rick looked down at the woman in front of him and saw something he wasn't expecting in her eyes. It wasn't the desire he thought he'd see after a question like that, she was scared and feeling vulnerable. She had opened up so much in the past few days, and had broken down in front of him that evening. It was like she had knocked down barriers that she'd put up to keep her from opening up like that with anyone before, and now he could see her completely and he was mesmerized. But the last thing he wanted was for her to let her fear or vulnerability take over and make her rebuild those barriers. He wanted her to feel safe with him. He wanted her to know that she had done the right thing in opening up to him.

There was a time when he probably wouldn't even have looked at the woman if they asked to stay with him. He would have dragged them into his room right away, but not Kate. Kate was different, she was special, and this thing between them meant something. Despite all the teasing and flirting, and the make out session on the beach, he was worried that she was pushing herself further than she was really ready to go. The last thing he wanted to do was take advantage of her.

Rick let go of his embrace around her and took both her hands in his. "Kate," he said softly, and she looked up at him. "You don't need to be scared."

"I'm not scared," she started. Truthfully, she was a little scared. She was nervous about what was to come. Sure, she'd be in relationships before but none of them made her feel like this. She had completely opened up to him and now she stood in front of him fully clothed but felt naked at the same time. The way he was looking at her was like he knew her inner most thoughts and it made her a little anxious but, also excited. She knew this was different from anything she'd ever known before.

"So, tell me what's wrong?"

"It's just that these last few days have been amazing," she said after a brief second.

Rick nodded letting her know he agreed but didn't want to interrupt her thoughts.

"I know I tease and sometimes come across more confident than I actually am. I want to stay with you, but I don't know if I'm ready for anything more tonight and I trust that you'll respect that. Although I kind of wish I was ready, I think we'd be great together. It's just that after everything that has happened, I don't want to wake up tomorrow and realise it's all been a dream. I want to be there beside you, so I know that this is all real. I really don't want this holiday to end. But I know we've only got a few more days here and then we're going back to the city, back to our own lives and I don't want to lose this," she said looking down at their joined hands.

"You won't lose this, I'm not going anywhere."

"But how do I know that? I'm broken Rick, and it could be a while before I'm complete again. How do I know you'll stick around when it gets hard?"

"Do you trust me Kate?" he asked.

"I do, of course I do."

"Then trust me when I say that I am not going anywhere."

Kate lifted her eyes and looked into Rick's, searching them and seeing nothing but sincerity in them.

Rick let go of one of their joined hands and placed it on her cheek. "Nobody has ever given you reason to trust them before, have they Kate?"

She shook her head, as Rick gently wiped away the stray tear on her cheek.

"Not really," Kate started, "and that's partly my fault for not opening up and giving them the chance to show me they can be trusted. But I think I just knew that there was something missing from those relationships. With you though, right from the beginning, it's been different, you've cared and haven't been afraid of showing me and so opening up to you just seemed like the right thing to do. Every day I feel like I trust you a little more, and I like that. If we went back to the city, lost what we've got and got too caught up in our own lives to even think about one another, I'm not sure how long it would be before I felt like I could open up like that again to anyone."

"Kate, I will never get too caught up in my own life to forget about you, I don't think anyone could ever possibly forget about you."

"But, how do you know that for sure?"

"Have I given you any reason to doubt me?" he said before she was able to say any more.

"No"

"Because you don't need to. I want this Kate. Honestly, I want this more than I've wanted anything in my life. I know things will be hard when we get back to the city, but we will make it work. No matter what it takes."

"And if I try to push you away?" she asked, knowing that she had a habit of doing that.

"I wont allow it," he said with a smile.

"So, can I stay with you tonight?" Kate asked again, because she never really got an answer last time. "I just don't want to be alone right now."

"You can stay with me anytime you like," Rick said placing a kiss to her forehead.

They released their still joined hand and Kate turned to walk away, planning to get her things ready before going to bed.

"And Kate," Rick said, making her turn around to look at him. "I do want to do this right, I don't want to rush. I'll do whatever is right for you, at your pace."

Kate nodded. "Thank you. I'm just going to get a few things from my room."

"I'll just make sure all the candles are out down here and then I'll be up," Rick said and the two parted and went their own ways.

A few minutes later Rick was walking upstairs as Kate was just coming out from her room with a handful of clothing.

"If you need to use the bathroom, you can use mine," he offered and paused for a split second. "Actually," he said getting excited, "You know what I think you need."

Kate looked at him with a bit of a nervous expression, really not sure what he was going to say. "What?"

"A Richard Castle spa bath special," he said waving his arms about excitedly.

"A what?" she laughed. "I'm not having a bath with you. Weren't you the one just saying not to rush, and we'll take this at my pace."

Rick laughed. "No, no, no, you got it all wrong. I'll just run it for you and leave you to relax in the bath alone. I don't think I'd be able to keep my hands to myself if I was even in the room. But if you want me nearby I can promise to try."

Kate wasn't sure that she would really have minded if his hands found her but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea. They weren't rushing into anything. "So what is the Richard Castle spa bath special then?"

"Well, my bathroom has a massive spa bath. It seriously is amazing. I will prepare it for you so it's just right and so you don't need to worry about a thing. And I have perfected the art of bubbles."

"Seriously? There's an art to bubbles?"

"Yes, I know just how much bubble bath to put in the water, how fast to have the water running and what temperature to have it running at to give the _perfect _spa bath experience."

"Perfect you say?" she smiled. "Then how could I say no?"

Rick was happy to see her smiling and hear her laughing again as he led the way through his bedroom and into the bathroom but when he turned to let her know where things were, she hadn't followed him. She had paused in the doorway to his bedroom, and he suddenly thought she'd changed her mind.

"Kate? Is everything okay? If you've changed your mind about staying here, it's alright."

"No, I want to stay."

"Well, you can't experience the spa bath special if you stand out there," he said making his way over to her.

"Sorry," she said with a laugh. "But this room is… wow"

Rick took her hand as she took a few steps into the room then she stopped again letting Rick go ahead.

The room really was beautiful. There was a magnificent fireplace at the foot of the bed, and the bed head was exquisite, she'd never seen anything like it. There were glass doors and windows along one wall which she expected would have a magnificent view but, being night time she wasn't really able to tell, and there was a chandelier hanging from the centre of the room. She had enjoyed the room she'd been staying in, but this was entirely different and she had a feeling she was going to enjoy staying in this room even more.

"Kate? I've lost you again," she heard Rick call out.

"Sorry," she said, looking at the writer now standing in the door to the bathroom. It sounded like he had the water running, and she hadn't even realised. She really must have gotten lost in her mind.

"Well, the perfect spa is almost ready. I'm just going to go get a fresh towel. Make yourself comfortable, I'll be back in a minute."

While Rick was gone Kate went and collected a couple of her things from the other bathroom so she would have everything she needed. When Rick returned she was in the bathroom putting her toothbrush in the holder.

"I hope you don't mind me putting my things in here. I just thought it would be easier for tonight."

"Of course I don't mind," he said hanging the towel over the rack and placing a robe on the hook behind the door, unsure which she would want. "I said make yourself comfortable, so I'm glad you are."

Kate just stood there watching him in amazement. He was putting so much effort in and once again, none of it was for himself.

Rick felt the water and turned off the tap. "Perfect once again. You should have everything you need in here now. Call me if you need anything. I'm just going to be in there," he said gesturing out the door to his room.

He left Kate in the bathroom and sat on his bed with his laptop. While she was relaxing, he would get some writing done. He hadn't done much over the past few days and had a lot to get out.

About thirty minutes later Kate emerged from the bathroom looking fresh and a lot more relaxed. She simply had a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt on and Rick wasn't sure she was capable of looking anything less than beautiful.

Rick closed his laptop, and started packing it away. "Feeling better?" he asked her as she sat down on the bed.

"Yeah," she nodded. "And you were right, that was perfect."

"I never doubted that for a second," he said and Kate rolled her eyes. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, you've already done so much. I just think I need sleep now. Do you know what time the others are coming back tomorrow?"

Ricks eyes widened in shock. He hadn't thought to ask. "I'm not sure. We didn't really talk about it. Why?"

"Well, I just thought it might be better if they don't see me coming out of your room in the morning."

Rick laughed nervously. "Yeah. Well, we'll put the alarm on for 7. I doubt they'll be back before then, and if they are, we'll figure something out."

"Okay," Kate said before setting the alarm on her phone.

"I'm just going to brush my teeth and change," Rick said closing the door to the bathroom. Once inside, he took a deep breath. Kate was currently sitting on his bed, she was going to spend the night in his bed, with him. They were just sleeping, and that was enough for him right now. But just knowing that she was there, made his heart want to leap out of his chest.

"Rick," he heard Kate call out. "Which side of the bed do you sleep on?"

"The side that you don't want," he called back.

He heard Kate laugh and then heard what must have been her rustling the sheets to climb into the bed. He quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face and changed into a t-shirt and boxers.

When he walked back into his bedroom Kate had made herself comfortable in his bed, but to his surprise she hadn't chosen a side to sleep on. She was lying diagonally across it.

"So, you decided you liked my bed so much that you're going to kick me out of it?" he asked.

"Nope, I was trying to figure out which side I liked better."

"By laying diagonally?"

"Don't knock it til you try it. You'd be surprised what you can learn from a bed by lying diagonally across it."

"Really?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Really!"

"Well which side did you decide on?"

"I haven't yet."

Rick pulled back the covers on the side he was closest to. "Let me help you then, I'll take this side," he said climbing into the bed.

Kate immediately moved her feet out of the way so he could slide his feet completely under the blanket and once he was comfortable lying on his back she rolled closer to snuggle into his side.

She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arm over his body tangling her legs with his, while he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close. His bed and his pillows were extremely comfortable but there was something more inviting about his body that made her just want to be close. Again, she felt safe, she felt at home in his arms. She knew this was right.

"So it didn't really matter what side of the bed I wanted, did it?" Rick asked after placing a kiss to the top of Kate's head.

"I guess not," she laughed realising that with her lying so close they really only needed one side of the bed.

Rick began running his fingertips up and down Kate's arm, just taking in everything that had happened that night. At first he couldn't believe his mother and Jim had come up with this plan to get him and Kate alone, but now, with the way the night had turned out, he couldn't have been happier. He was going to have to thank them somehow. Thanks to them, Kate had completely opened up to him, he felt more connected to her than he had with anyone before, and they were closer than ever. And now she was cuddling into him in his bed.

When he took a deep breath in and let it out, Kate lifted her head up to look at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking."

Kate raised her eyebrows questioning him.

"I was just thinking about tonight. We wouldn't be here right now if the power hadn't gone out and if our other family members were here. It's funny how these things work out," he said. A part of him wanted to tell her that it was partly due to their parents scheming but he had told Jim that he wouldn't tell her, so he stuck to his word.

"Yeah, it is," she said as she placed her head back down.

"So, good first date then?" Rick asked.

"Interesting first date."

"Interesting? What makes you say that?"

"Well, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride don't you think?" Kate said with a small laugh.

"It had dinner, dancing, and a kiss. What more could I possibly want or need from a first date."

"When you put it like that, it's a pretty great first date, but you missed the part where the woman completely broke down."

"Oh, but then that woman still came home with me."

"Where else would she go?"

"Oh, I don't know. She could have gone to her own room, but she didn't. She…"

"Came home with you," Kate finished for him. "Do you think she's happy she did that?"

"Yeah, of course she is. I know I wouldn't want her to be anywhere else, and I'm certain she wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now either."

"Really? You seem sure about that."

"Oh, I am"

"And what do you expect will come from her going home with you?"

"Definitely some cuddling, maybe a little conversation and lots of sleeping."

"I think that sounds good."

"A goodnight kiss wouldn't go astray either," he whispered down to her.

Although it didn't look like Kate was moving, he could feel it on his chest and knew that she had smile growing on her face.

There was a few seconds of silence and Rick almost thought that he really wasn't going to get a goodnight kiss, but then Kate lifted her head up to look at him with a great smile on her face that made his heart jump.

"A goodnight kiss I can do," she said no longer talking in 3rd person about herself.

Kate pulled her body up a little so she was level with Rick to reach his lips easily, but he made no effort to move. It was obvious he was going to make her do all the work.

She leaned forward until she was a whisper away from his lips, and then waited there, refusing to go the last millimetre.

When Rick couldn't take it anymore, he gave in. "You're such a tease," he said and he closed the gap.

It took everything in his power not to go overboard in his kiss. He was going to keep his word to Jim and to Kate. However, keeping his word to Jim could become difficult if Kate wanted more than Rick was expecting.

After a moment, Kate and Rick separated.

"So, I changed my mind. It's been an amazing first date," he said, adding 'and hopefully the last first date' in his mind. That thought did scare him a little. Was he really that serious about them already? He decided that it was a good sign. Start a relationship with the intention of it lasting and maybe it would.

"I think I'd say it was perfect," Kate said before resting herself back down on Rick's chest. "Goodnight Rick," she said softly.

"Night Kate."

It wasn't long before Kate was asleep in his arms, but Rick lay there just watching her and taking everything about her in. She was incredible and he didn't know how he deserved such an amazing woman, but deserved or not, she was there with him and she didn't want anyone else. She just wanted him.

Without moving his body too much he reached his phone on the bedside table. It was late, and he wasn't sure if Jim would still be up but he thought he'd send a message anyway.

_'Thank you'_ he wrote. He was a writer but just couldn't come up with the words to say just how thankful he was in that moment. He knew it wasn't enough but for now, it was better than nothing at all.

He was surprised when his phone buzzed in his hand only a few minutes later.

_'I take it you had a good night then?' _Jim had responded.

'_It was perfect. Did I tell you how amazing your daughter is?' _Rick typed out looking down at the woman sleeping on him. She had a smile on her face and knew he probably had one to match.

_'You may have told me once or twice, but you can tell me again. But don't just tell me, tell Katie. She needs to hear it more than you may think.'_

_'I will,' _he replied, and he knew he would. There was so much still to learn about her, and he was sure he was just going to continue being amazed by her.

_'Good. Now get some sleep and we'll see you tomorrow morning.'_

_'Do you know what time we should be expecting you? Should we prepare breakfast?'_

_'Make it brunch and we'll see you around 10. Goodnight'_

_'Night'_

He knew Kate had set an alarm for 7 and he thought about turning it off. He was sure they would be awake before 10, but he decided he'd leave it on. It would give them another 3 hours to themselves, and they could have brunch organised for when their parents returned.

Placing the phone down, he glanced one last time at Kate and with a sigh of contentment, he closed his eyes and joined her in the land of slumber.

* * *

_**I know that's not what many of you were expecting, but that's what you got. I'm pretty sure Kate will run out of things to stop or worry her soon though :)**_

_**I just bought Peter Pan on DVD... so excited! I love Disney movies, and my collection is getting bigger. My kids (when I eventually have some) will have some awesome movies to watch :)**_


	23. Chapter 23

Kate woke the next morning to light butterfly kisses down her face from her forehead, to her nose and finishing on her lips and she couldn't stop herself from letting out a small giggle.

"Morning Kate," Rick said with a smile.

"Morning," she responded with a matching smile. "You know, I don't think I would complain about early mornings for work if that's how I was woken every day," she added, and then almost wanted to take her words back. It was too soon to be talking about waking with him every day, especially after only one night sleeping together, with sleeping being all that they did.

"Well, you never know what the future may hold," Rick said with a wink, and she relaxed again knowing that she hadn't freaked him out.

"What time is it?" she asked. "I didn't hear the alarm."

"A few minutes before 7. I woke up and thought I was better than any alarm could be."

"You were definitely right about that."

With one arm Kate pulled Rick close to her again and captured his lips with her own. It wasn't long before Kate was pushing Rick back against the bed head and moved herself over his body, straddling him without even needing to put space between their lips.

Things began to heat up fairly quickly and soon their tongues were in the middle of a battle for dominance, and enjoying it thoroughly. Ricks hands found their way to Kate's thighs and were running up and down them, the tickling sensation causing her to squeeze her legs around him as she let out a small whimpering sound into his mouth.

Kate ran her hands down Rick's chest until she reached the bottom of his t-shirt, then slowly reached underneath it guiding it up and over his head so he was now bare chested in front of her. She wanted skin, and she wanted it now. The heat radiating from his body was unbelievable as Kate ran her hands up and down his sides. Kate used her nails to tease Rick a little, if he could do it to her, then she was going to do it right back. She kept her hands on him until she felt the need to be closer. She slid her arms around his neck allowing her whole body to get closer to his.

As Kate moved over him, Rick found himself pressing his hips into hers allowing her to feel exactly what she was doing to him, and the feeling mixed with the nipping and biting, triggered a moan from the pair. Rick's hands moved from Kate's thighs to her hips holding her where she was so he could try and control what happened between them. If she moved over him too much, he couldn't be sure that he'd be able to stop himself from doing things she may not be ready for.

Just as he thought Kate was pulling away and rolling away from him, she pulled him close again, rolling him over slightly with her. She now lay on her back while he held himself up with one arm, the other running up and down her side while one leg founds its place between hers, his growing arousal pressing against her upper thigh.

His roaming hand reached down and found it's way under her singlet touching the smooth skin beneath it, and the sensation made her arch her back pressing her body into his. He pulled away for a second to look at the woman lying beneath him, trying to read just how much she wanted, "Kate," he said softly, "stop me when this is too much." His lips were back on her in an instant and then trailed their down her jaw, and her neck, and then remained on her pulse point.

Kate was loving the feel of his body and his kisses as they made their way down her neck she especially loved the way his hands felt on her body but she knew she needed to stop it from going further. This was a big step, and she didn't quite feel ready to take it. She felt bad about leading him on but not being able to see it through. She kind of wished she was ready for it, he was amazing, but it was too soon.

She placed her hands on either side of Rick's face pulling him up to kiss him one last time.

The way she lifted him to her face again and kissed him, Rick knew that it wasn't going any further, and although he was a little disappointed, he was okay with it. How could he not be with the way she was looking up at him, and the way she smiled at him? He soon realised that the reason he was so okay with it, was because he honestly was falling in love with her and it was something he had never felt like this before. He was beginning to think that maybe this was the love that Jim had told him about, the love Jim had for Johanna. Could this be the forever kind of love? Was it too soon to even be thinking about love? He didn't know, but he was certain that's what it was. It was the only thing it could be.

"Good morning," she said softly.

"Morning again," Rick said with a small laugh. "Haven't we already said that once today?"

"Yeah, but now it really is a good morning," she returned with a cheeky grin.

"You got that right," Rick said placing a kiss to her cheek as he rolled away from her and onto his back.

"Sorry Rick," Kate said turning onto her side to look at him, before he got up.

"Sorry? What for?" Rick asked puzzled.

"I'm sorry about getting carried away. I couldn't help but notice what I did to you again." She looked down at his lap and back to his face and tried to stifle a laugh unsuccessfully.

"Oh," he said. "I'm getting used to that. Honestly, there is nothing to be sorry for. I'm a man, you're a beautiful woman, and seriously, even if it does mean I have to have a cold shower now. That was definitely worth it."

Kate laughed and shook her head. "I'm still sorry," she said. "I will make it up to you one day."

"In your own time Kate. There's really no rush."

Kate couldn't believe just how lucky she was. She'd had a great dinner the night before, opened herself completely to Rick, danced closely with him and then he treated her to the most amazing bath she had ever experienced. And when she just wanted to sleep next to him he didn't complain or try anything more. When things could have gone a lot further than they did now, he didn't push, he didn't do anything she wasn't ready for. He was willing to wait.

She wasn't sure that going further was a bad thing, she kind of wanted it, and she knew he wanted it, but she'd rushed things with guys before, and they had never worked out. This was different, and she wanted it to work, which meant doing things differently. Diving in full speed ahead at the first opportunity they had at being alone, was not different. That was how she had behaved with others. She'd previously followed what her body wanted and not her heart. This time she was going to follow her heart, and it didn't matter how much her body ached for more, her heart wanted it to be more about love, not just about being satisfied. Until she could honestly say it was love between them, she wasn't going to go further. Knowing the way she already felt about him, she didn't actually think her body would have to wait too long, but she also had to be sure it was love that he felt for her. It needed to be a two way love for it to be right.

She let her legs fall to the side of the bed and sat up. "I'll just use the bathroom quickly, then it's all yours," she said.

* * *

Martha, Jim and Alexis had a great evening at the hotel. Jim had shared more stories with Alexis about when he was a child, and even Martha found some of his stories fascinating. Of course, she did try and out do them with her own stories, which made Alexis laugh. At first, Jim found her to be a little over the top but after a while he came to enjoy it. They'd had quite a late night so they weren't surprised when Alexis slept past 8am.

"I got a text from Rick last night," Jim said to Martha as they drank their morning coffee. "He said they had a great night." He picked up his phone to read the text again. "Actually," he corrected, "he said it was perfect."

"Well, that's promising," Martha responded.

"Yeah, do you think we did the right thing? Forcing them to spend time alone together?"

"I know it's hard to think that we as parents would do it, but I'm certain it was the right thing to do. Like we said, our kids are stubborn and looked like they were going to miss any opportunity they had if we didn't step in and help out."

"Katie deserves to be happy."

"They both do," Martha said quickly. She was silent for a minute before speaking again. "So, do you think one of them finally made a move?"

"That was what we hoped for, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I'm curious. Who do you think would have taken that first step?"

"Martha, are you trying to ask me who I think would kiss who first?" he asked.

"Well, I know my son, and normally he wouldn't hold back, but if he hasn't kissed her already, he's going to wait for her to make the move."

"So you're asking, do I think my daughter would have stepped up to the plate and puckered up?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a small giggle from the opposite side of the room.

"Alexis?" Martha said looking over to the girl in the bed. "Are you awake?"

Alexis did her best to hold her breath to stop herself from giggling, but it didn't work, and when she saw her grams walking towards her, she covered her head with the blanket.

"Alexis, come out of there."

"I'm sleeping," she said.

Martha pulled the blanket down off her head uncovering her granddaughter and sat on the bed beside her giving her a hug and kissing her temple.

"So, did you have a good sleep?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"And how long have you been awake?"

"Long enough," Alexis answered.

"Long enough for what?" Jim asked from across the room.

"Long enough to hear what you were talking about."

Jim and Martha shared a shocked look. Alexis knew they were going to give her father and Kate some time alone, but she had just heard them discussing who would kiss who first, and they really didn't want her going back and telling her father what she had heard.

"So, you think they kissed last night," Alexis said laughing.

"It's possible," Martha said, not really sure exactly how to approach it, but not wanting to lie to Alexis. She knew that Rick often tried not to share too much of his love life with Alexis while she was still at a young and impressionable age.

Alexis tried to stop herself from laughing, but she couldn't help it. She thought it was funny that she knew more than her grams and Jim had known about what was going on.

Martha noticed the look on Alexis's face and immediately knew there was something she was not telling them.

"Is there something you know that we don't?" Martha questioned.

Alexis quickly stopped laughing and tried to hold a straight face and shook her head.

"C'mon Alexis. You know something don't you?"

She continued to shake her head.

"You're hiding something."

"Dad told me I couldn't tell you."

"You couldn't tell us what?" Jim jumped in.

She shook her head again. "It's a secret."

Jim and Martha once again shared a look and Jim walked over to join them on the opposite side of Alexis.

"Alexis?" Jim asked. "What do you know?"

"Dad kissed Kate," she blurted out unable to hold it in any longer, and then she covered her mouth with both her hands.

Jim looked wide eyed towards Martha, then back down to Alexis. "When?"

Alexis went back to shaking her head, not removing her hands from her mouth.

Martha reached for Alexis's hands and pulled them down. "Alexis, you've let it out now. You might as well tell us what you know."

"The other day," Alexis said letting out a sigh. "On the beach. He kissed her. I don't know if it was the first time, he didn't say, but he said I couldn't tell you until he'd spoken to Kate about it."

"When was this Alexis?"

"I don't remember."

"Before or after the aquarium visit?" Martha asked.

"After. It was the day after that," she said remembering the morning dancing. "But you can't tell them I told you. I promised dad I wouldn't say anything. You can't tell them."

"Alexis," Martha said rubbing circles on her back to calm her. "We wont say a thing, but thank you for telling us. We'll just have to make things extremely difficult for them over the next couple of days until they tell us themselves."

In her head she was already trying to conjure up a plan to get one of them to open up about what was going on between them.

* * *

After having their morning coffee and purchasing more groceries for brunch from the supermarket, Rick and Kate went about the kitchen preparing what they considered would be the best brunch ever, full of delicious choices.

It surprised Kate how well they worked together. It was like their own little dance in the kitchen, with everything running smoothly, neither of them getting in the others way or stepping on toes. Rick would occasionally come and look over her shoulder to see what she was doing, and she knew that he only did it so that he had an excuse to touch her, or steal a kiss, but she didn't mind. She would occasionally do the same to him.

Everything was ready and set on the table just before 10, ready for when their families came back. Kate placed the last plate on the table then stood back to make sure everything looked perfect. She was there for barely a few seconds when she felt Rick's arms snaking around onto her stomach from behind. She immediately leaned back into his chest and placed her hands over his.

"We work well together," he whispered in her ear. "Everything looks perfect."

Kate simply nodded. She couldn't find words to express just how perfect everything had felt. She leaned over to the side a little without losing contact and looked up into his eyes, and she felt even more speechless. His eyes were smiling down at her, and even if he didn't have a mouth to speak words, she was sure she could read everything in his eyes. There was such a deep emotion in them, a deep care that she had never seen before. She leaned up and kissed his lips but had to pull away much too soon when they heard the front door opening.

Rick must have heard the door too and was letting her go as soon as she started to pull away.

Looking at each other, they knew neither of them really wanted to separate but they hadn't discussed telling their parents just yet.

"Wow!" Alexis exclaimed as she ran into the dining around. "This looks amazing! Did you two really make all this?"

They both nodded.

"I hope you're hungry," Kate said.

"Starving," Alexis responded, and then walked over to give her dad a hug.

"Hey pumpkin, I missed you last night," he said leaning over to kiss the top her of her head.

Martha and Jim then entered the room and walked over to greet their children.

Once everyone was greeted, Rick spoke up. "Well, we should probably start eating before this all gets cold," he said. "Coffee anyone?" he asked and making his way to the coffee machine while the others took seats around the table.

Kate was surprised when Martha took the seat next to her, she had hoped that it would be left free for Rick. And then when her father took the seat opposite her and Alexis the seat on the other side of her at the end of the table, it meant Rick would be too far away for discreet touches. She knew there would be changes to the way they had been behaving once their parents were back, but she'd hoped to be able to keep him close. There was just something in those occasional gentle touches that made her heart flutter a little but also calmed her at the same time.

"So tell us about last night," Jim said when Rick took the seat next to him.

"There's not much to tell," he said while keeping his eyes on Kate trying to read exactly how much she wanted him to say. "As you know the lights went out, so we ate dinner and talked. Then when the electricity was back on, we listened to some music then went to bed," he said smiling.

He hadn't lied, he just hadn't explained everything in any detail, and he really didn't know they needed to know much more than what he'd said anyway. If Kate wanted to share more with her father she would.

"That's all then?" Martha asked not believing her son at all.

"What are you asking mother?" Rick questioned.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought, you know, you two had dinner alone, and then spent the evening here, I just…"

"Mother!" Rick scolded. He didn't know where she was going with her comment but he didn't imagine it was anything Alexis needed to hear and he could see that Kate was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He wished he could reach out and place his hand on her knee to give it a reassuring squeeze but he was too far away. "There's really nothing more to tell right now."

"Sorry Richard," Martha said knowing she may have pushed a little too much too quickly.

"So, how was the hotel?" he asked.

Alexis was the first one to speak. "It was small," she said.

"Where did you stay?" Rick asked his mother.

"I don't remember the name of it, but they didn't have a lot of rooms available so we took what we could. Unfortunately, it was very small, but it was nice."

"I got to hear lots of stories," Alexis said. "Kate, your dad has the best stories!"

"Yeah, he does," Kate said smiling at the young girl. "I'm pretty sure your dad has some great ones too."

Alexis nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he does too, but they're completely different."

They continued to eat while casually talking about what they were going to do for their last days of their holiday.

Once they had all finished eating Rick and Kate started clearing everything away.

"What are you doing?" Jim asked. "You cooked. We should clean."

"It's really no problem dad, we don't mind," Kate said.

"No, no, don't be silly. You and Rick go relax."

They did as they were told and made their way outside to the back deck.

"What are you doing Jim?" Martha said when they were out of hearing range.

Jim just looked up at her with a confused expression.

"If we want them to come clean we either need to catch them out or just force it out of them by not letting them be alone for too long. I know my son, he cracks easily when he's held back from something he loves."

"You really think it's love Martha?" he asked.

"I know my son, and the way he looks at Kate, yeah, it's definitely love."

"You know, I think Kate is beginning to feel the same."

"Well then, you better get out there and find out. I'll clean up in here."

* * *

_**Gross piece of information for you all... I swear my body is just full of boogie right now... seriously my nose just wont clear up! *sigh* I also learnt today that you probably shouldn't put a tub of Vicks Vaporub by your nose and sniff, it kinda stings your eyes! Anyways, thats the update on my cold/flu whatever you wanna call it. **_

_**I hope you're all still enjoying the story. i have to start writing faster because I'm quickly running out of pre-written chapters, and I don't want to have to slow down the posting. I like being consistent, it's what I do. I was actually the most consistent student in my English class in high school. Always got a C+, it was good, atleast I didn't fail but it got to a point where i think maybe my teacher just didn't read my stuff anymore, she just marked C+ on it. **_

_**Um.. I think that's enough random information about me again. I will snuggle up in my onesie and get some sleep now I think. **_

_**Let me know what you think... about my story or anything really... Why is the sky blue? What makes the world go round? What is the meaning of life? **_


	24. Chapter 24

Kate had hoped to get some time alone with Rick at the end of the day while they watched a movie. Often Alexis would go to sleep during the movie and if not, she would go to bed immediately after, and in this case, she had gone to bed half way through the movie. Both her father and Martha would usually go to bed before it finished or before it even began but for some reason, this time, her father had decided to remain in the room throughout the movie. Of course, Kate was still able to get comfortable leaning into Castle's side, because they had done that before but, she couldn't get as comfortable as she really wanted to. She couldn't just lean in and kiss him like she wanted to. She couldn't lay down with her head in his lap like she had wanted to while he ran his fingers through her hair. It was almost like her father was watching her the entire time waiting for something to happen. She found that she barely even watched the movie because she had been too busy trying to figure out what he was up to.

When the movie finished, Kate expected her father would head up to bed then, but he still didn't. Jim remained sitting in his seat watching his daughter and Rick, like he was almost waiting for one of them to make a move or to say something.

Rick, also wanting some time alone with Kate, turned off the television thinking that if it wasn't on, Jim would have no reason to stay, but it did nothing. Jim remained in his seat, and picked up a book that was beside him and started to read. Rick wasn't actually sure Jim was reading the book, or if it was just a reason for him to stay in the room.

When it looked like they weren't going to get the time alone they had both wanted and Kate realised that her father probably wasn't going to move until either her or Rick were going to bed themselves, she got up and announced that she was tired and going to her room.

When she reached her room she pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Rick.

_'What is up with our parents? Let me know when it's safe to come see you, so I can say goodnight properly ;)'_

Placing her phone on the night stand she then went to have a shower and got herself ready for bed. When she came out she bumped into her father who was just making his way to his own bedroom. They wished each other a good night and then she watched as he went to his room.

She practically ran to pick up her phone once she was back inside her own room and noticed she had a message back from Castle.

_I didn't think he was ever going to go to bed. I'll come say goodnight and tuck you in soon when I know it's safe ;) _

She smiled as she read his message. It sounded like he wanted to see her as much as she had wanted to see him. Even though they had spent the entire day together, they were never left alone for long, which made things extremely difficult. When they said they wanted to go for a walk, Martha suggested they all walk down the beach together, because she felt like she needed to get some more sun. When she and Rick had offered to cook dinner, her dad wanted to help and wouldn't take no for an answer, and then when they watched the movie, her father stayed until after she had gone to bed. It was like their parents were trying to stop them from being alone together, and she had no idea why. Anytime they mentioned something, one of their parents wanted to join them or help them.

Kate quickly responded back to Rick's message. She didn't want him to just tuck her in and leave her, she wanted to be tucked in with him again.

_Give it 15 minutes, dad should be asleep, then I'll come to you ;)_

It felt like the longest 15 minutes of Kate's life as she sat in her room. She tried reading for a few minutes but couldn't keep her focus on the page so she gave up and just watched the clock. As soon as she thought it was safe she opened her door to look down the hall. It was dark and there was no one around. Everything was silent, so she guessed everyone was in bed. No light was coming out from any doorway, including the bathroom so she began to make her move quietly across the hall to Rick's room.

When Rick heard his door opening he stopped playing games on his phone, put it down on the bedside table and turned to see Kate walking towards him. He'd lit a few candles in his room to create atmosphere and it was just enough light to see the joy that radiated from her face.

"Hey," he said as she sat down next to him on the bed.

"Hey," she returned. "I missed you."

Rick laughed. "We've been together all day."

"I know, but I still missed you. You know like when you're a kid and you get a new toy that you just want to play with all day, but then your parents say you can't play with it until you've cleaned up or something."

"Kate, did you just call me your new toy?"

"No," she said, slapping his chest. "But it's that same feeling. This, what we have, it's new, and even though I know you've been there the whole time, I haven't been able to do what I've wanted to."

Rick raised his eyebrows suggestively. "And what is it that you've wanted to do?"

"Rick! You know what I mean."

He laughed again. "Yeah I do. I know exactly what you mean. I missed you too."

Rick turned her body towards his and lifted her legs over his. With one arm he pulled her in close for the kiss he had been waiting to give her all day, while running his other hand over her smooth, bare legs.

"I feel like a teenager sneaking around like this," she said when they separated.

"Yeah, me too. I felt like our parents were trying to force some sort of information out of us today, but I really don't know what they think they know. Do you think we should tell them? You know they've been trying to push us together for days now."

Kate thought about it for a moment. "Not yet, but soon. I think I might enjoy being a sneaky teenager for a while," she said. "I was pretty good at it when I was a teen, but I think I'll be even better at it now."

"I'd love to hear stories of sneaky teenager Beckett. I bet they are quite entertaining."

"I don't know. It got pretty wild for a while. I'm not sure you could handle teenage Beckett stories," she teased.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at just how much I can handle," he whispered into her ear, before placing a gentle kiss on her neck. "So, would you like me to come tuck you in then?" Rick asked.

"Only if you're tucking me into your arms."

"Kate, I do believe I'm rubbing off on you. That was a little corny."

Kate scrunched her nose up at him. "I know," she said with a laugh.

"Well, just so you know," he said softly kissing her lips, "I love corny,"

"Really?" Kate said, gently kissing him back.

"Really," he whispered with another kiss. "And you know what else I love?"

"What?" Kate's heart was thumping in her chest. She was enjoying their playful kisses but held back from placing another gentle kiss to his lips. She wanted to hear what he had to say. Was it too soon for her to be hoping he was going to say he loved her? Usually the thought would frighten her, make her want to run away. A part of her still believed it was too soon, but for some reason it was all she wanted in that moment.

"This," he said and he leaned in to kiss her one more time. She opened to him and allowed him to take the lead this time. She removed her legs from where they rested over his and began to lay back down into the bed as he deepened the kiss, leaning over the top of her he placed his hand on her hip and rolled them onto their sides facing each other.

When Rick pushed a leg between hers and pulled her closer Kate lifted a hand to his chest and pulled away before they could get too carried away. There were others in the house to think about now.

Rick slowly removed his hand from her hip and placed it on her cheek. "I think I love that a lot more than anything else. I could do that forever and never get sick of it," he said speaking of their kisses. He then went silent and found himself staring into Kate's eyes, and he gently stroked her cheek trying to decide if she was ready to hear what he really wanted to say at that moment. "Kate, I…." he started but then changed his mind and swallowed his words.

Kate could sense that Rick was nervous and wasn't sure why. Did he have something else he needed to say, or did he not want her there with him over night with his family in the house? "What is it Rick? If you want me to go back to my room, I will."

"No no no," he said quickly. "Don't do that. I want you here."

"Then why do you look so nervous?" she asked gently stroking her finger down his jaw.

"I want to say something but, I'm just afraid that I'll frighten you."

"Nothing you can say is going to frighten me," she said as she placed another quick kiss to his lips. She just loved the sensation it gave her. "What is it?"

"Just that, I…" he paused for a moment. "I'm glad I got to say goodnight to you like this."

"Me too Rick," she returned and she nuzzled into his neck, closing her eyes. "Me too." She had a feeling he still wasn't saying what he had wanted to say but she didn't want to push him. She was actually quite surprised at how much she wanted him to tell her he loved her, especially when what they had was still so new. She was fairly certain she loved him, what she felt was so different to anything she'd felt before, but she wasn't ready to say it. She needed to know exactly how he felt. If she said it, but he couldn't return it, then it would break her, and she couldn't handle that right now, so she would wait.

Rick wrapped his arm over her body not wanting to let her go. He wasn't sure exactly when it was during the day that he realised, but at some point he finally admitted to himself that he was absolutely, undeniably, irrefutably in love with Kate Beckett and he wanted so much to tell her but he was also afraid of what she would do. So as soon as she felt completely relaxed in his arms and he thought she was asleep he whispered it in her ear. "And I'm in love with you." He then closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep next to her.

* * *

Both Rick and Kate were startled awake the next morning by knocking on the bedroom door followed by Martha's voice.

"Richard dear? Are you awake? I need to talk to you."

Kate didn't think she'd ever jumped out of bed so quickly in her life, but she soon realised she had nowhere to go. She had to hide. Rick knew this was not the ideal way for their parents to find out about them so he pointed towards the bathroom door.

"Give me a minute mother," he called out.

He stopped Kate just before she entered the bathroom and kissed her quickly. "Sorry, I'll get rid of her as fast as I can," he whispered.

Kate nodded and closed the bathroom door sitting herself down on the floor so she wouldn't make any noise to arouse suspicion from Martha.

Richard sat back down on his bed and called out to let Martha know she could enter.

"Gosh Richard, what were you doing that could have taken so long?"

"I was putting clothes on," he lied.

Martha rolled her eyes at her son. "It looks like you put your pajamas back on, unless you plan going out like that,' she said sitting down next to him on the bed.

"I, um, maybe I do."

"Please, promise me you'll get dressed properly if we leave the house today."

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. "Morning mother, what is it you wanted?"

Martha took her sons hand in her own and suddenly had a very serious expression on her face. "Richard, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" he asked puzzled.

"With Kate?"

"Nothing, why?" he asked, worried that they realised Kate wasn't in her room and had come to find her in his room.

"Richard. I think you should know by now that I know when you're lying, and right now, you're lying to me," she said with a knowing glance.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say," he said shaking his head. "We're getting along great, we're having fun, we're getting closer. Everything is going great. So what am I doing with her? I'm being the best friend I can be." He hoped his explanation was enough to make her go away. He didn't want to leave Kate shut in the bathroom for too long.

"Are you in love with her?"

"Uhhhh," he said shocked. He knew his mother would often pry into his personal life, and she was very straight forward, but he wasn't expecting that question so soon and now that she had asked it, he wasn't sure how to answer. He wanted to scream 'YES!' at the top of his lungs, but he knew Kate was in his bathroom. What if she wasn't ready to hear him admit to it? At the same time, he didn't want to keep lying to his mother so he chose to be honest. "Yeah, I think I am," he said softly unable to stop the smile from growing on his face. "Actually, I know I am, I am in love with her," he said a little louder and with a confidence that nobody could mistake. The words just rolled off his tongue without a problem, like it was the most normal thing in the world, and saying it out loud to someone else, just made it all the more real. He was no longer frightened about telling Kate. He had told her he wouldn't let her run, and he meant it, so if she ran, he would run after her, and he would keep running until she couldn't run any more.

"Oh Richard, you need to tell her, and I think you need to tell her before we leave here. Don't wait til we get back to the city. Life get's busy, you don't want to miss your chance while you're here."

Rick nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek. "I will try. Thank you."

"Now, when will you be joining us for breakfast?"

"I'll be down shortly."

"Good. Jim, Alexis and I have been up for at least 2 hours waiting for you and Kate to come join us. We've got bacon and eggs ready to go. Do you think Kate is awake? Should I go wake her?"

"No, no don't do that," he answered quickly. "I don't think she gets to sleep in very often. And she'll be back to work in a few days so we should let her sleep in while she can."

"Okay, well, I'll see you in the kitchen shortly," she said before exiting his room.

Kate had been sitting in the bathroom as still as possible. She heard the beginning of the conversation quite clearly, having to stop herself from giggling a little. But when Martha asked Rick if he was in love with her, the part that Kate really wanted to hear, it was like Rick had gone quiet. She had to crawl a little closer to the door, which she did very quietly, and a moment later she heard him say, with an unmistakable confidence, that he was in love with her. It confirmed what she thought she had heard the night before, as she was dozing off to sleep. When she had previously heard the words, she thought she may have dreamt it, but now she knew exactly what she had heard. It wasn't a dream and she couldn't have been happier.

It wasn't long after she heard Rick's bedroom door close that the bathroom door opened and Rick stood there only a few steps in front of her smiling down at her. She practically jumped up off the floor, ran the few steps to him and jumped into his arms wrapping her arms and legs around his body and almost knocking him to the floor. He managed to catch her in his arms and stop himself from falling immediately but he stumbled backwards until his knees hit the bed and he fell down to sit on the edge with Kate still in his arms. She gave him a quick but firm kiss before pulling away, resting her forehead on his and looking deep into his eyes, now knowing for sure that what she had been seeing was not just attraction but a growing love for her. She only hoped that her eyes would portray the same feeling back towards him.

Rick looked back at the woman locked around him, and into her gaze. He knew what he needed to say, and with the way she was behaving at that moment, he had a feeling she'd already heard it, but he needed to say it to her directly. He looked at her for a moment trying to see if there was any hint of fear and he couldn't see any at all. With one of his hands, he pushed back the hair that had fallen in front of her face, and then rested his hand behind her ear.

"Kate," he smiled as she bit into her bottom lip and then he took a deep breath. "I know this seems almost too soon to be real, and it scares me a little to think that I have fallen so quickly but, I know, without a doubt, that I am in love with you."

He pulled her close to kiss her before she was able to respond but, she still managed to pull away fairly quickly. Rick was relieved to see she was still smiling.

Kate needed to respond, she knew she had to. "Rick, this is fast, and it is scary. I'm the type of person who runs from things like this, but the thing is, I don't want to run from you which makes me believe, without a doubt, that I too, am in love with you."

* * *

_**I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the whole chapter... there's parts of it that I edited million times I'm sure, but in the end... that's what I've got. And well I finished reading the chapter over again for the last time and can't help but get this little goofy smile on my face so that's gotta be good, right? Also, yes I know it's soon for it to be love, but it happens! **_

_**Also, I'm trying to decide how far I want to go with this story. Would you want it to finish after the Hamptons or see what happens when they go back to the city? I'm not sure I should even ask the question because I have a feeling I already know the answer, I just don't want it to become one of those non-stop stories that keeps going and then I struggle to find somewhere to finish it, but I thought I'd put it out there and see what you guys though. **_

_**And something random about myself... I am known around my area as "THE FUDGE QUEEN!" Seriously, I make the best fudge, I'd make some for you all but unfortunately, i don't know where you live so you'll have to go without! Too bad for you! Also, I ate lots of rum balls today. I put 3 times the amount of rum in them, and still can't really taste the rum... is that bad? I share them with others and they can't handle it because it's too rummy, but me and this other dude, we love em and think they need more rum... how much rum is enough? Nobody knows!**_

_**So yeah, now that you know about my rum balls addiction and my fudge making abilities, I'm sure you will sleep better tonight :) haha**_

_**And I will shut up now and let you review (if you want)**_


	25. Chapter 25

Kate had planned to spend some time alone with her father in the afternoon at one of the local café's. She felt like she had neglected him a little over the past few days with everything else that had been happening and she needed to make it up to him. They'd been spending time altogether, but she hadn't spent much time just with her dad and she knew Rick would appreciate the time alone with his family too.

"Dad, do you really think everything is going to be okay when you're back on your own? " she asked, taking a sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"Yeah. You know what, I really think it is. I haven't wanted a drink at all since being here, and I don't see that changing. I'll be going to AA meetings and Rick and I have said we'd call daily to make sure we talk about how we're doing for the first few weeks. The support I'll have will be great and it'll make things a lot easier. I just feel so much better about everything and seeing how happy you are these days, I don't want to lose that again. So yes, I think it'll all be fine."

"That's great. You know I'm so proud of you. I know my work can be hectic, and I'll be starting my detective training when I get back so who knows how busy it'll get, but I want you to know that if you need me, I'll be there for you," she said smiling at her father.

"I know you will. It's the same for you too, you know. I am never too busy for you. I know I haven't been there much over the past five years, but I want to make it up to you."

"You don't need to make anything up to me, dad. Knowing that you put yourself through rehab to get past your addiction and put your life back together, that's enough for me. As long as I don't lose you again, I'm happy."

"You wont lose me again Katie, I'm fixed and I'm back for good."

He really was doing so much better. He looked healthier, he was happier, and he just seemed more like himself than he had in years. "So, are you looking forward to going back home? Having things go back to normal?"

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am looking forward to going back, making amends and then getting on with my life."

"And looking forward to having some peace and quiet again?" Kate questioned.

Jim laughed. "You know what, I actually think I'm going to miss all this when I go back. Not the house and the activities but the people. Having Rick and his family around has been great. I've actually really enjoyed the time with them. They've become like a second family to me."

Kate really didn't think she could feel any better than they did at that moment. Everything was going so well for them.

"How about you Katie? Are you looking forward to going back? Getting back into work? I know you love your job."

Kate thought about it for a moment. "Yes and no. I do love my job, but I think this time away has really taught me a lot. I need to learn to balance my life out a little better, and I think that's going to be difficult. I need to pull myself out of my old habits and I need to make more time for others. I need to make more time for you."

"Anyone else you need to make more time for?" he questioned knowingly.

Right at that moment, Kate's phone buzzed, and she was grateful for the interruption.

"Excuse me dad, I should check that, I'm not sure who would be trying to contact me."

She pulled her phone out from her pocket and had a message from Rick.

_'My mother is driving me crazy with questions! How is it with your dad?'_

Kate laughed and then quickly replied, '_I think we're just getting to the questions now.'_

Putting her phone away she didn't realise the look she had on her face, but it hadn't gone unnoticed by her father, who had the biggest grin she had seen in years.

"What?" she asked him.

"Katie, Katie, Katie," he said with a sigh.

"What?" she asked again.

"You know in all the times we've managed to catch up for coffee, you've never once actually responded to a message while we've been in the middle of a conversation. If it's work, they usually call and you've had to get up and go, and if it's someone else just texting, you ignore it and get back to it later. So who could it be and what could it be that's so important this time that you had to respond immediately?"

"It was nothing, dad," she said trying as best as she could to be convincing.

"It was Rick, wasn't it?"

"Why would Rick be messaging me?" she said, not realising her face was not matching her confused tone of voice.

"Katie, let me ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me."

"You know I'm always honest with you."

Jim raised his eyebrows as if to say he didn't believe her.

"Most of the time," she added, and Jim laughed.

"What's going on between you and Rick?"

"Nothing," she said a little too quickly.

"Are you still playing that game?" he said.

"What game? Dad, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You two have been extremely close over the last few days, almost inseparable. You've been holding hands, getting cosy on the lounge, then there's those looks you give each other. You've been sharing stories about your mother with him and completely opened up to him, and since you got that message this huge smile has taken up residence on your face and I can almost feel your happiness shining from you and beaming onto me. Don't tell me there's nothing going on."

Kate's phone buzzed again, and as much as she wanted to ignore it, to try and prove her father wrong, she couldn't do it. She pulled it out and read the message.

_'Come back soon, I'm beginning to think my mothers mind reading powers are real and she's going to find out more that we want her to know.'_

Kate laughed, but didn't respond just yet. She looked over at her father he had a smug look on his face but she couldn't even be annoyed with him. She was just too happy. She realised she no longer felt like she wanted to keep what she had with Rick a secret from her father. What she and Rick had felt real, and by telling her father it would make it more real. She wouldn't usually tell her father so soon in a relationship but it wasn't like he didn't already know, they just hadn't admitted to anything.

"What do you say we start heading back to the house?" Kate said, hoping her father would drop the conversation they were having.

"Not so fast Katie. You still haven't answered my question truthfully."

Kate bit down on her bottom lip while she put together words in her head. She couldn't lie, but she didn't want to tell him everything without Rick by her side. "Rick and I are getting along really well. He's a good friend, but I really don't know what more you want me to say. Is that enough of an answer for you?"

Jim squinted his eyes at his daughter. He was going to get a proper answer out of her soon, but it didn't look like it was going to happen at that moment. "Okay," he said that will do for now, but this conversation is not over. Let's go"

Kate quickly replied to the message on her phone telling Rick they'd be back soon before leaving to head back to the house.

* * *

When Jim and Kate returned back to the house Martha pulled Jim aside quickly to talk to him.

"I think maybe I was wrong to say we shouldn't leave them alone. I think they need to talk. There's something Rick needs to tell Kate and I think they need the time alone for him to say it."

Jim nodded.

"We know there is something happening, Alexis let that slip, but from what I've been able to get out of my son, I think they're still working it out. He admitted that he is in fact, in love with your daughter, and I trust that they will come to us when the time is right, so for now, I think we just need to let them be," Martha finished, almost thinking herself crazy. She was usually so interested in her sons love life stepping in when she felt she needed to but for now she felt like she had to take a step back a little.

"I think you're right Martha. Kate really won't tell me much, but her face tells me plenty. I do trust that she'll tell me when she needs to. "

From where they were standing they watched as Rick and Kate spoke with Alexis at the table. Rick had his hand rested on Kate's back while she had her hand on Alexis's shoulder looking at something Alexis was showing them. They looked like a real family.

"They look good together," Martha said with a smile.

"Yeah, they do."

"Let's go see what the plan is for the afternoon then shall we Jim."

Martha and Jim made their way over to the table to find out if any plans had been made for the rest of the day. Kate said she was looking forward to going for another swim but other than that, nobody had any plans, so they all decided to go spend some time by the pool.

* * *

After a while of lazing out by the pool, Martha and Alexis announced that they were going to organise dinner, and Jim followed closely behind leaving Kate and Rick to talk alone.

"Finally," said Rick as he swam over to Kate and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She was quick to return the gesture with her arms snaking their way over his shoulders. "I know," she laughed.

"Did I tell you how good you look in a swim suit?" Rick asked squeezing Kate's sides a little.

Rick squeezing Kate made her body startle a little. "You better be careful, or this will be the last time you see me in it," she warned.

"Kate Beckett! Thinking about skinny dipping while our parents and Alexis are in the same house, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Kate tried to stop herself from smiling to tell him off, but she couldn't, instead she pinched at the skin behind Rick's neck.

"Ouch!" he said with a pouted lip. "What was that for?"

"I think you know exactly what it was for Castle. Skinny dipping?"

"You're the one who mentioned it."

"I never said such a thing," Kate argued, pulling herself out of Ricks arms and taking a step back so she could look at him seriously, or at least try to look serious.

Rick could see that she wasn't angry, she still had her gorgeous smile, so he continued to tease. "Sure. But you were thinking about it, weren't you?"

"You really are looking to get yourself in trouble."

"It's really nothing new. I'm always in trouble," he said. "Ask Alexis."

Kate shook her head at the man in front of her. "Right, well just so we are clear. I never mentioned skinny dipping, that was all you. I hadn't even thought about it," she paused as she swam into his arms and leant forward to whisper in his ear. "But maybe some other time when we know we're alone."

"Let me tell you Kate, if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I have an excellent memory. So now, skinny dipping with you is going to happen one day."

"I look forward to it," she said seductively into his ear, before she let go of his neck and placed her hands on his shoulders. As much as she enjoyed the fun and games, there was also some serious conversation she needed to have with him. "So, was the questioning really that bad from your mother today?"

Castle was surprised at her sudden change in tone. He wasn't sure how she did it, going from seductive temptress one minute, to serious Kate the next, but it definitely kept him on his toes. "No, I guess I'm used to it. I just worry that I'm going to say more than I should. What about your father?"

"Well, he said the conversation wasn't over, but I was thinking, maybe we should just tell them. As much as I would like to continue sneaking around, this is our last night here, and I want to spend it with you. I don't want to have to be waiting around for our parents to go to bed before I can kiss you goodnight. Especially if my dad behaves the way he did last night."

"So, you like kissing me then?"

"Castle! I'm trying to be serious about this."

"Sorry," he said giving her a quick peck on the lips. "It's just that I like kissing you."

"You are impossible," she said, removing her hands from his shoulders in the hopes to swim away until he was serious and listening, but he only tightened his grip on her waist and didn't let her go. "Rick! Let me go."

"Nope, not happening," he grinned. "So, you want to tell our parents?" he said getting back to the serious part of their conversation.

"I actually think they may know already, they are just trying to get us to say it."

"I was thinking the same thing," Rick laughed.

"Maybe at dinner, we'll just tell them."

"And until then, let's just make the most of the time alone in the pool." Rick said.

"I thought maybe I'd do laps actually," she said. "I didn't exercise as much as I normally would this holiday. I've only got a couple of days to make sure I'm in shape."

"Oh, you're definitely in shape," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I'm still swimming. You're more than welcome to join me. Let's see if your stamina is better swimming than running."

"This still isn't exactly the exercise I was talking about when I told you about my stamina either."

"One day Castle, I'll learn all about that stamina, but right now, I'm swimming."

Rick dropped his hands for a moment and let her believe that he was going to let her do as she wished, but a moment later as she walked away from him he came swimming towards her underneath the water and managed to get himself between her legs so when he rose he had her sitting on his shoulders.

"Castle. Put me down!" Kate yelled, but Rick refused and began to tickle her feet that were now easily accessible.

Kate began to laugh and kicked her feet a little and it wasn't long before the tickling was too much for her that she couldn't keep her balance. Letting out a scream she fell back off Rick's shoulders and into the water.

Rick quickly checked to make sure she was okay, and when she came up and started coming after him he turned to try and get away as fast as he could.

He still didn't know how she managed to move so fast in the water but she did and she had soon caught up to him, so he braced himself for the punishment he expected to come.

Kate caught up with Rick turned him to face her and began to back him into the corner. "So, you think It's funny to play these games in the pool do you Castle?" she said trapping him with her body.

"Mmmhmm," he hummed as he nodded, even though he knew it would probably get him into even more trouble.

"Well, I know a few games myself that you might enjoy," she said placing her feet either side of his and pressing into his body.

"Really?" Rick squeaked out.

"Really," Kate said and then moved so her lips were a whisper away from his ear. "But I'm not sure that you would survive them," she said as she slipped her hands beneath the waist band of his shorts, grabbed his cheeks and pushed his hips up closer to her while pushing her hips into him, feeling the reaction from Ricks body immediately.

Ricks eyes widened and he took in a gasp of air. He didn't think his body had ever reacted that fast to anything before, and he was thankful that he would be able to cover himself with a towel when he went inside. He didn't need his daughter or mother seeing him this turned on.

"See," Beckett said letting go and removing her hands, "I don't think you'd last longer than five seconds."

As Kate went to back away from Rick, he grabbed her and held her close. "You are a bigger tease than I thought," he said.

"And you love me anyway," she responded with a smile.

"Yeah," he laughed. "It may be crazy, but I do," he finished before melting his lips with hers.

Kate pulled him back away from the wall, and wrapped her legs around him. He held her there while allowing their lips to dance playfully.

Rick wanted to just stay there forever with her in his arms but it wasn't long before he heard the clearing of a throat from somewhere nearby and it caused him to freeze in his place. He knew it didn't come from himself or the woman currently attached to his body.

Kate also heard the throat clearing but made no effort to move away from Rick. They did release their lips and looked to the side where the noise had come from to see Jim standing at the edge of the pool with his eyebrows raised at the pair of them.

"Uh, dad," Kate said. She could feel her cheeks burning of embarrassment. "Have you met Rick? My uh..." she paused and looked down at Rick who actually looked really scared at that moment, "my boyfriend," she finished.

"Hmmmm…" Jim responded with a smile. "In fact, I do believe we have met. He's quite a remarkable young man, much better than the last one you brought home." He then turned his attention to the man his daughter was currently wrapped around. "You treat her right Rick," he said trying not to notice how close to Kate's backside Rick's hands were.

Rick nodded and they all went silent, not sure what to say next until Jim broke the silence again.

"I just came to tell you that we decided to order Chinese after all. It'll be here soon."

"We'll be there in a minute," Kate said and Jim made his way back inside.

When he was gone, Kate removed her legs from where they were still wrapped around Rick and then hid her face in his chest. "That was kinda humiliating," she said. "I hope he wasn't standing there too long."

Rick laughed. "Don't worry, at least now we've got less to worry about. Your dad knows, and my mum is going to know within seconds of him walking back into the kitchen."

"Yeah, I guess that did make things a little easier than having to actually tell them over dinner. He really didn't have much to say did he? He was quite blasé really. I can't believe I was almost scared to tell him. "

"Did he really just call me remarkable?" Rick said astounded.

"Yeah, I think he did, and you are. That's pretty big coming from my dad though, he doesn't say things without really meaning them." She unhid her face from her chest and lifted her hand up to his cheek. "I think he approves. He likes you," she added with a laugh.

"You think?"

"Yeah, I do."

"And I'd love to know about the last guy you took home. It didn't sound like your father had been impressed by him at all."

"No he wasn't. You really don't want to know about my past boyfriends though do you? I've got you now and my previous relationships are nothing in comparison to this, and we're only just starting out. "

"I guess you're right," he said pecking at her lips. "We should probably go join them though before they come back out here again looking for us."

Kate nodded and started making her way over to the steps to get out of the pool. Rick stood back a bit and just watched her as she climbed out, raking his eyes over her body. When she turned to look at him, she could see he hadn't moved.

"Seriously Castle?"

"What?" he shrugged.

Kate picked up her towel and waited for Rick as he made his way to the edge of the pool, but then he stopped.

"Um, Kate, could you bring my towel over to me?" he said looking down at himself and then up at her again with a guilty expression.

Kate laughed. "Oh, I did it again."

Rick nodded and Kate took his towel to him.

"Sorry," she said, holding it out as he got out of the pool and wrapped the towel around him. "I'll go distract the others while you run upstairs to sort yourself out."

"Are you sure you can deal with them on your own?"

"If I can deal with you," she said with a smirk. "I can do anything. Let's go."

* * *

_**Thanks for all your suggestions on whether to stop, continue or sequel the story. I've decided i will just keep this one going. i think it'll make more sense for me that way :) So this weekend, I'll spend some time working out how that's going to look so hopefully there wont be a break in my updating. **_

_**I'm listening to some old classic songs today. That I would do anything for love! And you know it's true and that's a fact, I would do anything for love! And there'll never be no turning back" Good old Meatloaf! haha I've got some Cutting Crew, Extreme and Billy Joel and Foreigner happening. I'm so awesome! haha **_


	26. Chapter 26

After Alexis had gone to bed, Kate and Rick decided to go for a stroll along the beach to get some time alone without feeling like they were being watched by their parents.

"Did you see the look on your mothers face all the way through dinner? The way she kept looking at me, I thought she was going to start interrogating me or something."

"Yeah, I noticed. She likes to try and read people Kate, and I think that's all it was, although I'm really not sure why she would need to try and read you, she's spent almost two weeks with you. I'm pretty sure she knows the type of person you are. You'd think being an actress she'd be able to do a better job of hiding the staring though."

"Trying to read me? Does she do that often when you start a new relationship?"

"Well honestly, since Meredith, Alexis's mother, I haven't really introduced her to any other women. There's not been anything serious enough."

Kate's mind automatically went to all the times she'd read things in the newspaper about Rick with a new woman, calling him a play boy. Was that really who he was? If there was nothing serious, were the newspapers right? It's not who she thought he was. It definitely wasn't the man that he appeared to be with her. All these times he could have pushed for more from her yet, he didn't. But, she had only known him here on holidays. What if he was different back in the city?

"So, no one serious since Alexis's mother?"

Rick could see some uncertainty on Kate's face, it was asking a lot more than her voice was asking. He knew what it was right away, she was worried about his past and obviously what the media said about him.

"Since Meredith left, no, there's been no one serious. I know that newspapers often show me with different women. Some of them have been friends, or other upcoming authors that my publisher and publicist tell me to go with. And I won't lie, there has been the occasional fling, but it's nothing like the newspapers say. And Kate," he said standing in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders, "this isn't like those times either. This is different, this is real. This, what we have, is special."

The worry from Kate's face dissipated and a smile broke out again. "So your mother was reading me?"

"Yeah, but there's nothing to be worried about," he said taking his place at her side again and continuing their walk down the beach. "You know that both her and your father were our biggest cheerleaders. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have had…" he stopped himself from saying more about their night alone, remembering Jim's words.

"Wouldn't have had what Rick?"

"Uh, we wouldn't have had such an easy time with them today," he said unconvincingly.

"Rick," she placed her arm out in front of his chest stopping him in his tracks and turned to face him. "Don't lie to me. What did they do?" she insisted.

Rick sighed. He couldn't lie. Even if it meant she would get angry at him. She couldn't stay angry, not when they had accomplished so much that night, thanks to their parents. He ran a hand down his face and prepared himself to speak.

"Rick?" Her voice was firm, and he knew he was going to have to tell her what had been done..

"It's not bad Kate, really. They were trying to help us along, they didn't realise we'd already talked things through."

"Rick, what did they do?"

"The other night, when the lights went out, and they stayed in the hotel." He took a deep breath. "They planned it."

"And you knew about it? And didn't stop it?" she said suspiciously.

"No, I didn't know, not until after they left. That's what your father talked to me about on the phone. That's why it took so long. I wanted to tell you, but he told me not to. He said you'd get angry, and that we really needed to have a night alone, and well I just I couldn't argue with him."

"So, the whole thing, was my dads idea?"

"Yeah, so they somehow had the lights go out, I still don't know how they did that, while they were supposedly out shopping. But they had already taken themselves to a hotel for the night."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." She wasn't sure whether she should be angry or upset at him but, at the same time, surprisingly, didn't really feel either.

"Your dad said if I told you, that you would have stopped it. But Kate," he said reaching out for her hand and holding it between his. "Look at what it did for us. The evening was amazing, and you were able to let go of all that emotion and hurt that you'd been holding on to, and honestly, if I had a chance to relive that night, I wouldn't change it."

If there was any doubt previously in her mind about how much she loved him, Kate was sure it was gone now. She expected herself to feel something, to be annoyed, but Rick was right, that night changed things for her. She opened up to him, she wouldn't have done that if others were around, and she'd be hiding behind her walls still instead of breaking through them with his help.

Kate looked up into the eyes of the man in front of her and saw love mixed with fear. He was really worried about what this meant for them. She needed to reassure him, let him know she was okay with it.

"You know what Rick," she said, letting a gentle smile make its way onto her face. "I don't think I'd want you to change it."

"Really?" he said with his eyes growing wide.

"You're right. We probably wouldn't be here right now if we didn't have that night. I'd still be hiding parts of myself from you and ready to run at any moment. But that night we had alone, my trust in you just grew immensely. That night is a huge reason for why I'm not running right now."

Rick let go of Kate's hand and threw his arms around her and twisted side to side a couple of times while Kate just relaxed and laughed in his arms.

When he pulled back he placed his hands on her upper arms and kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he said and they continued walking down the beach again.

"So, what were we talking about before that whole parents planning our night alone thing?"

"Ah… I do believe we were talking about our parents being cheerleaders and my mother approving of you," he said.

Kate suddenly had a thought and chuckled out, "could you imagine my dad with a mini skirt and pom poms Castle?"

Rick let out a roar of laughter. "Oh gosh, no way! But you know you can get male cheerleaders, and they don't wear skirts."

"Yeah, but I always just think pom poms and mini skirts."

"Well you know, back to our parents, without the mini skirts and pom poms. They've been our cheerleaders since we got here. So, my mother definitely approves of you. And I don't think my mother would have been so pushy if she didn't. She was never a cheerleader when Meredith was around."

"So, she looks out for you. Wants to make sure you've got what's right for you. That makes sense. And so you really, truly, honestly think she approves of me?"

"Why wouldn't she? You're the breath of fresh air that I needed in my life and I think she can see that," he said as he gently swept his hand past hers.

Kate felt the touch on the back of her hand, and took Rick's hand in her own interlacing their fingers together. "I'm pretty sure it's you who has been the fresh air that I've needed. Or actually, maybe the breeze that has just come in and swept me away."

"Ooooh, I like that. I could use that in a book."

Kate turned her head to look at Rick sceptically. "Really? You would use my words rather than your own? Aren't you supposed to be the writer, I'm just a cop."

"Yes, I'm a writer but you got one thing wrong there," he said with a smile. "You're not _just _a cop. You are the most incredible, remarkable, amazing, and let's not forget beautiful NYPD _soon to be_ detective. And actually since we are talking about it, there is something I wanted to run by you."

"Yeah?"

"You know how I said I'd been writing again, and coming up with new ideas."

"Yeah. You got something you needed help with? I know you said my NYPD insight could be useful."

They had both surprised each other with the things that they had remembered about each other from previous conversations when they hadn't been discussed in great detail. It made them both feel like they were on the right track with each other even before they had admitted it to themselves and each other.

"Actually, it might be a little bit more than that. Maybe we should sit down for a second," Castle said as he slowed down his walk.

Kate looked up at him again. "You're not going to ask about a ride along again are you?" she asked.

"No," he laughed. "Not just yet," he added with a grin.

"C'mon then Castle. Sit down and tell me what it is you want to tell me."

Rick took a seat in the sand and pulled Kate to sit in the v of his legs with her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms tight around her and kissed the back of her neck causing her to shiver in his arms. They stayed there for a moment staring out at the water while Rick tried to decide what to say. In the end he realised it didn't matter what he said, he just needed to say it.

"Kate," he said as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "The ideas that I've been coming up with, they started the day I met you. That very first day at the rehab centre, there was something I saw in you back then that sparked a passion within me to write again. I didn't really know anything about you, but just watching you, I could see there was a story there, and I found myself writing things down, I found myself wanting to know the story. Then as I got to know you, you continued to inspire me even more. I couldn't believe it at first, I don't think ideas had ever come to me quite as quickly as they were, and well I've come up with a new character idea that I'd like to explore. A sexy, smart and quite remarkable detective. I know it might sound cliché, like it's been done before, but I don't know, I think this character is special, and with your permission, I'd like to keep writing about her."

"You don't need my permission to write about a fictional character."

"Well, no I don't. But this character, is inspired by you, and I wouldn't feel right writing any more without you knowing. So, what do you think?"

"What do I think?"

"Would it bother you if I wrote about a character inspired by you?"

"Actually," she said turning her body sideways to him, and curling her arm around his neck. "I think it's kind of sweet. I'm your inspiration?"

"Yeah, you are," he said with a bashful smile. "So I can keep writing then?"

Kate thought for a second. "You wont be writing my own personal story will you? I'm not sure I want to share that with the world?"

"No, there may be glimpses of you in the character, she'll have a different story, she won't be you. I'm fairly certain it would be impossible for me to write a character as perfect as you."

Kate blushed a little. "Then yes, you should keep writing about this new character."

"And you'll help me? Like if I have questions about the NYPD, you'll be able to answer them. I like things to be realistic."

"As long as all the time we have together isn't spent talking about my job then sure, I can help you. I want to have time for just us too. No work, just us."

"Of course Kate, I want that too. And I know you said a ride along was out of the question, but maybe sometime in the future, we can revisit that? I'd really like to see what a day in the life of a detective is like."

"Okay Rick, we'll revisit that some day. I don't know when though, I have a lot of training to do still."

Kate rested her head on Ricks chest as he enclosed her in his arms, and they sat there silently for a while.

"So, we should probably talk about those weekly dinners we told the rest of our family members about while we're here too," Rick said after a few minutes.

"Yeah," Kate said sitting up, "I hope you didn't mind I said that. I thought it…"

"It's a great idea Kate," Rick interrupted. "Alexis loves your father, and like I've said before, it'll be good for her to have him around. She's really only got me and my mother, and your father has so much he can teach her."

"So, how are we going to do it? Do we all go out for dinner or do we stay in and cook?"

"Well, my loft is big enough for all of us, but if that makes you uncomfortable…"

"Rick, we've been staying with you here for almost 2 weeks, what makes you think it would be uncomfortable anywhere else?" she interrupted.

"I don't know," he said slowly and then laughed at himself. "Okay, well, should we say we'll have dinner at my loft then. We can order in or I'll cook, and if we want to do something different, then we can. We'll have to find out what day works best for your dad."

"Sounds great."

"We'll have our own dinners too, just the two of us," he said with a wink.

"Just the two of us," Kate repeated. "I like the sound of that." She leant into him and kissed him briefly, allowing a loud pop noise to escape her lips when she moved away smiling at him, and then her face dropped a little. "You know, with my work, and detective training, it's going to be difficult. Sometimes I'll need to stay late but it'll be last minute, so it makes planning a little tricky."

"Kate," Rick said stroking her legs, "We'll make it work. Even if it's difficult, you're worth it. And if we've planned a family dinner that you can't make it to because work needs you to stay back, we'll miss you, but I think we'll manage."

"And you know if work is really busy, I may not see you for days, or possibly whole weeks. Is that worth it? Honestly, you could have just about anyone. Our holiday is almost over, are you sure you want to continue this with me?"

Rick looked at Kate flabbergasted. He couldn't believe what she was saying. She was giving him an out if he wanted it because she thought her job would be too much for him to handle. Her emotions were seriously like a roller coaster at times, she may seem really confident at one minute but then a little later, she'd be worried again. Rick wasn't going to let it get to him though. He guessed that Kate still had walls that needed to be torn down, and slowly, one by one, they would get there.

"Kate, have you not been listening to everything I've been telling you? I love you. I don't want anyone else. Yes, when we leave here, things are going to be different, but this between us, what we have, I think it's only going to grow stronger. You'll see me Kate, I'll make sure of it. I'm a writer, I work my own hours, so I'll make sure, even if I just bring a coffee to you in the morning, I'll see you."

Kate's smile returned to her lips. "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to having someone like you, so accepting of my work hours. I trust you, I guess I just need to stop falling back into bad habits," she said before resting her forehead to his.

"It may be hard, and running may seem easier at times but I promise you Kate, I will always come running after you."

Kate closed her eyes as a lone tear fell into the small space between them. "You're right, we can make this work."

* * *

_**Setting up for going back to the city :) I really do write Kate to be overly emotional! haha I can't recall anyone saying anything about it, but it's just something I noticed myself. **_

_**Did I ever mention that I was a fan of musical theater? (I wrote that the American way for you US people :) haha) Well, anyways, I am... So I'm now watching a range of musical movies while I'm writing, so hopefully my writing doesn't get musically corny! Does anyone else struggle to watch them without singing along? I went to see Les Miserables with my friend when it was at the movie theaters (did it again) and seriously, it was really hard for me not to sing along, she kept giving me looks when I started to sing quietly along hehe. I know so much of it word for word! In saying that, could you imagine a musical Castle episode? haha. **_


	27. Chapter 27

Kate was woken the next morning by a beam of sunlight shining into her eyes.

"Sun's in my eyes," she said, when she saw Rick opening his curtains, and he closed the ones that allowed the sun to shine on the bed again. Noticing just how bright it was outside, Kate realised it was probably time she got up anyway. She barely ever slept late, but there was something about sleeping against Rick's body that made her sleep better than ever. "What's the time?" she asked.

"Time to get up. We've got a big day ahead of us, and we have to pack everything up," Rick said as he made his way over to the bed.

Kate rolled towards him and grabbed his hand pulling him towards her and Rick knew exactly what she wanted, so he happily obliged and leant down to kiss her lips.

"I can't believe this is our last day," Kate said. "Tonight I'll be back in my own apartment, in my own bed, and tomorrow I'll be getting myself organised and ready to go back to work on Monday. Everything is going to change," she said sitting up on the bed and resting against the headboard.

She was worried about how everything was going to affect her new relationship. Everything had been going great between herself and Rick. They were getting along extremely well and spending almost every minute of the day with each other. It had been like that for two weeks but, it was all about to change. Work was going to get in the way and she knew she probably wouldn't get to see Rick as much as she would want to. Plus, with Rick's responsibilities and publicity requirements, there was more change that they hadn't even spoken about, and it made her a little nervous.

"Kate," Rick said taking a place next to her on the bed. "We talked about this last night. We know things are going to be different, but we are going to make this work." He took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth placing a gentle kiss to the back of it. "And if you really don't want to go back to your apartment tonight, well you are more than welcome to come stay with me," he continued with a grin and a wink.

"Thanks Rick," Kate laughed, but I think I should go home to my own apartment. I need to get myself back into my routine. Well, whatever routine is possible, I guess."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, the offer is there."

"Thanks," she smiled. "So, how are we doing this now? I need to go pack my things that are in my room, but what if Alexis sees me leaving your room? How would she feel if she knew I was sleeping in here?"

Rick kissed her cheek. It meant a lot to him that she would even consider how his daughter felt. "Well, she knows about us, but I guess if she sees you walk out of my room, she may start asking questions I'm not ready to answer."

"Yeah, I can just imagine that."

They both rolled off either side of the bed to stand, and started pulling the sheets and covers up, making the bed together, not even realising how domestic it seemed because it just felt so natural.

"Well, I'll go out first and make sure she's not going to see you come out. What about your dad?"

Both their parents had been in their rooms when they had arrived home from their walk the previous night, so it made going to bed in the same room no problem, but now, their parents could be anywhere.

"Hmmmmm…." she said as she put a pillow in place. "Yeah, I don't think I'd be ready for his questions either if he saw me walk out of your room."

"Okay, well I'll look out for him too and my mother while I'm at it because the last thing we need is her knowing looks again." Once the bed was made he started making his way around the other side where Kate was. "You know what's funny, we wanted our parents to know about us, so we weren't sneaking around like teenagers, but we're still sneaking around."

When Rick reached her, they wrapped their arms low around each other. "I know," she laughed. "I guess at least this part will be a little easier back in the city. I won't need to worry about my dad seeing me sneak out of your room early in the morning."

"Oh, so you want to be sneaking out of my room in the morning. I think I like the sound of that."

Kate rolled her eyes and then leaned in to rest her head on his chest, not bothering to respond with words.

Rick just held her close for a moment, letting her take all the time she needed with him. He felt like holding her there was some sort of reassurance for her, and he wanted her to know that everything was going to be fine.

After a moment she pulled away, and Rick made his way to the door to make sure the hall was clear for Kate.

* * *

When everything was packed, they were all back on the road and heading back to the city.

"Hey dad," Alexis asked from the back seat. "Are we stopping at that place with the big slide?"

Rick could hear the excitement almost exploding from his daughter. He loved that even as she grew older, she wasn't too old for water fun and slides. "Yes pumpkin, we always stop there on our way home."

"And is Kate joining us?"

"Yes, Kate and her father will meet us there."

"Awesome!" she said with a huge grin. "I think she's going to love it."

They arrived at Out East Family Fun first but didn't have to wait long before Kate and Jim joined them.

Alexis had the same level of excitement she showed at the aquarium and Kate thought it was adorable. This young woman who sometimes exuded maturity beyond her years, could still have the excitement of a five year old. She imagined that she got that side of her from her father, because Rick stood by her side looking just as excited. She wondered how long that young exuberance and innocence would last before she grew out of it. She hoped a part of it would always be there for Rick's sack. She would always be his little girl.

"So, where to first?" Kate asked, looking at Alexis.

"The slide," Alexis said wide eyed, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.

Kate quickly reached to grab Ricks' hand with her free one, "Are you sliding with us?"

"Of course I am," he said being pulled along with them, leaving Jim and Martha behind.

They climbed to the top of the slide and had to wait their turn. Rick stood behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her stomach pulling her back flush to his chest. "Did you talk to your dad about dinner this week?" he asked softly.

"He said he should be free most nights this week while he just eases himself back into work and things. We decided Thursday would probably be best though if that works for you," she said turning her face to look up at him.

"Thursday is great. It means we can have the weekend for ourselves."

"If I'm not working," Kate added.

"So, will you be able to make Thursday?"

"I don't know yet. I hope so, but we'll see," she said with a sigh.

"Kate, remember what we've said. It's okay if you can't make all of our dinners. Let's just not worry about that now. I'll talk to your dad about it later, and let's just have some fun on our last day out here."

"C'mon Kate, it's our turn," came Alexis's voice from in front of them. "Wanna go down together? It's really fun that way."

"Is it safe?" Kate asked, looking a little frightened.

"Yeah, me and dad do it all the time. We just need to sit together. So I'll sit first, then you, then dad. And you have to hold on tight to me, and dad will hold onto you so we'll all be safe."

"Ok, I think I can do that Alexis," Kate said trying to sound confident.

"I know I can," Rick said wiggling his eyebrows, which was followed by a gentle slap to his chest from Kate and rolled eyes from Alexis. They sat down all together, and held on tight as Rick counted down and they pushed off sliding down the long slide.

At first Kate was screaming, but her screaming soon turned into laughter along with the other two she was sliding with.

Making their way off she turned to Alexis, "You were right, that was fun, and felt safer than I expected."

"Of course you did, coz I had you the whole time," Rick said snaking his arms around her and pulling her close to claim her lips.

"Ewwww… dad!" Alexis said covering her eyes and looking away.

Kate quickly kissed Rick back before pushing him away. "Shall we go again?"

"As long as _he," _Alexis said staring at her father, "behaves himself."

Rick lifted his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "What did I do?" he pouted.

Kate laughed at him and then took Alexis's hand making their way back to the top. "Maybe we'll go down on our own this time Alexis."

"Okay."

Rick caught up with them quickly and they all made their way back to the top and slid down one by one.

"So, should we go have a water war now Alexis?" Rick asked his daughter.

"Yeah, us two," Alexis responded taking Kate's hand, "against you!"

"Well, that's not fair, there's only one of me."

"Maybe Kate's dad will join in. Grams probably won't want to join us."

"Jim!" Rick called over catching the attention of the older two. "Want to join us for water wars. The girls are ganging up on me. I might need some help."

Jim thought about it for a second. "Why not?" he said. Usually he wouldn't involve himself in such silliness but, it was their last day of their holiday and it did look like it could be fun. "So, guys against girls then, is it?" he said when he reached them. "Let's go."

As they walked to their sides of the water war set up Alexis turned to Kate. "Don't worry, we've got this in the bag. Dad has absolutely no idea how to aim. He misses almost every time. What's your aim like?"

Kate laughed, "You've got nothing to worry about. My aim is pretty accurate most of the time. I think it comes with being a cop."

"Great!"

On the other side Jim and Rick were discussing their abilities.

"So Jim, I think I should let you know, that I am hopeless at this, Alexis beats me every time, so I hope you're prepared to get a little wet."

"You tell me now, after I've already gotten myself into this? Thanks Rick. Kate, she's got almost perfect aim."

"Great. We don't really stand a chance to do we?"

"Uh, well I played baseball when I was younger, so that may be a little helpful."

The conversation ended when the countdown began for their water war.

Half way through their game, Rick and Jim were almost drenched, while Kate and Alexis had barely been hit. It was fine for Rick because he was in swim shorts, but Jim had been wearing his usual clothing.

"You weren't wrong about your aim Rick. You don't have any at all!"

"I know."

"Your father didn't play sports with you when you were young?"

"I never really had a father growing up. I never knew him."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't really think…"

"It's okay, mother did her best with me, and I think I turned out pretty good."

"I think I'd have to agree, which is a good thing since you are dating my daughter."

"Jim," Rick said nervously, while flinging another water balloon into mid air going nowhere. "I'm sorry about yesterday. We were actually going to tell you at dinner, we didn't want you to find out the way you did."

Jim laughed. "It's fine Rick. We knew there was something going on."

"I thought as much."

"But, I do have to ask. You love her right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I believe you, I just wanted to hear it from you, to be sure. And I really hope it all works out for you. I'm sure as a father, I'm meant to have the 'what are your intentions' talk, with you? But I don't feel like I need to. I feel like I know you and I trust you, as you are fully aware. As long as you promise to look after her and not hurt her, that's all I need right now."

Rick nodded.

"Good. And one piece of advice I can give you, don't let the city life get in the way of your relationship. Make time for one another, and don't ever think that you'll get time to say what you want to say tomorrow, because sometimes, tomorrow never comes."

Rick knew he was speaking from his heart, talking about his own relationship with his wife, who had been taken away. One day she was there, the next there was no more tomorrow for her.

"Thanks Jim."

"Hey, what are you two doing over there?" called a voice from the other side. Alexis was getting impatient and the men had stopped throwing the water balloons without even noticing.

"Let's just get this game finished shall we?" Rick said and put three balloons in the catapult at once letting them fly high in the air without even looking where they were going.

To everyone's surprise two of the balloons landed right where Alexis and Kate were standing, and for the first time, it looked like they had been hit by the men.

When they finished using up all the balloons, Jim and Rick were soaked, while Kate and Alexis were just a little wet.

"It's a good thing you've got a change of clothes in the car," Kate said to the men laughing. "Mini golf is it now? Who knows maybe you'll just dry off in the sun."

Martha joined them for the mini golf saying it was calmer than the other activities and suited her better.

A little way into the course Kate pulled Rick aside a little.

"You and my dad appeared to be deep in conversation earlier. Is everything okay?" she asked softly.

"Everything is fine," he said stroking up and down her arm. "I apologised for the way he found us yesterday and he actually wished us well, said he hopes it works out."

Rick watched as Kate's body appeared to completely relax in front of him. "Did you ask about dinner Thursday?" she asked.

"No, I should do that now."

Turning back to see where they were in the game, it was Ricks turn so he quickly took his shot and went to speak to Jim. They set a time and Rick gave Jim his address before getting back to the game.

Once the game was over and they made their way back to their cars. Jim, Martha and Alexis took off ahead leaving Kate and Rick alone for a moment.

"So, dinner is all sorted for Thursday night with your dad," Rick said. "He's coming around at 7pm, so if you can make it, that would be great. But if not, I understand, and I'm sure Alexis and mother will too."

Kate nodded and gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Kate? What's wrong?" Rick asked concerned.

"Nothing," she sighed. "Is it wrong for me to not want this holiday to end?"

"Of course not. What's on your mind?"

"It's just that my dad has been so happy and I've been happy. This time away has healed both of us in ways that I never imagined, and going back to the city almost feels like taking a step backwards."

"Kate, going back home isn't a step backwards. It's a step forward. You've got a promotion at work, that's a huge step forwards. Your dad is sober and getting his life back on track, again, those are steps forward. You have started to open up about your mother, which is another forward step, and that doesn't need to stop. I could keep going if you need me to."

"There is one thingthat you didn't mention and I'm quite surprised."

"What's that?"

"I allowed a pretty awesome guy into my life," she said smiling.

"Oh really? Who's that?" Rick joked.

Kate rolled her eyes at him. "You know just allowing you into my life, letting you help me take those steps forward, is a step forward in itself."

"Well thank you for letting me in," Rick said with a smile that reached his eyes. "Our families are waiting so we should probably get to them."

Kate stepped forward and embraced Rick in her arms, resting her head on chest. It was still a little damp but she didn't care.

When Kate pulled away, Rick lifted a hand to her cheek, and kissed her briefly. "Text me to let me know you're home safe, and I'll call you later tonight." He removed his hand from her cheek and linked it with hers by her side and walked her over to where Jim was waiting at the car.

"Jim, it's been great having you join me and my family. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for having us and for inviting us Rick. I'll see you Thursday."

Rick opened Kate's door and watched her climb in while her father got in on the other side. Kate wound down her window and beckoned Rick over for one last kiss before they left. "Talk to you tonight," she said as she wound up her window.

Rick watched as they left the parking lot and he made his way back to his own family, ready for his journey back home.

* * *

_**And back to the city they go! I wonder what's in store for them there!**_

_**I realised something today. As I keep saying, I don't have many chapters written in advance any more (at this stage, just one) and I'm going to Hillsong Conference all next week which means I gotta get my butt in gear and start writing if I want to keep my consistentency in updating. Ahhhh! And work is quite busy at the moment which takes up most of my day time and I've got something happening every night this week so I think I'll have to look myself in my room over the weekend! I don't want to let you guys down haha. **_

_**Oh, and some exciting news. I did a backflip for the first time in 6 years today... SO PROUD OF MYSELF! I didn't hit my head and knock myself out! I may be getting old but I've still got it! **_

_**One other thing. If you ever wonder why I go on about random stuff after my chapters, I just feel like it gives you insight into the type of person that I am. Lets you know a little bit about the random person behind the story :) So if there's anything you want to know, drop me a line. **_


	28. Chapter 28

"Well, we're home," Jim said as they made their way through the busy New York streets.

"Yeah, back to real life," Kate said, unsuccessfully trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"Hey Katie. We may have been away from the city for a couple of weeks taking a break from our jobs and the our usual daily routines but, everything we never left real life, everything that has happened over the past few weeks has been real."

"I know. It just turned out to be so much more than I expected, and sometimes it just didn't feel real, I still think I'm going to wake up tomorrow and find that it was all a dream. That you'll still be in rehab and I'll…"

"Still be hiding away from love and trust," Jim finished.

"Yeah," she nodded slightly embarrassed that her father could read her so well.

"Katie, trust me when I say this was no dream."

Jim pulled into the car space out the front of Kate's apartment building, switched off the car and sighed. He knew exactly how Kate felt because he felt the same. They'd had a great time away and going back to the city, it felt new, like they were stepping into unknown territory even though it was the same city they'd live in for years.

Kate leaned over and kissed her father on the cheek. "Did I ever say thank you?"

"What for?"

"For this. For taking me with you."

"You should be thanking your captain for that. He was the one that told you to take time off"

"That's true," Kate laughed.

"And Rick was the one that invited us to go with him. But I'm pretty sure you've already thanked him," he said with raised eyebrows and giving her a look that said he thought more had happened between them, than had actually occurred.

"Dad! Seriously!"

"C'mon Katie, don't think I didn't notice that you had been sleeping in his room."

"You… how did you know?"

"I didn't. But you just confirmed my suspicions," he said with a smile.

"Fine. You caught me. But it's not what you think."

"I really don't want to know."

Kate felt her cheeks heat up and her face went bright with embarrassment, but she had nothing to say in return.

"What you do is your choice. As long as he treats you right and you're happy."

"I am happy but," she paused. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with her father. "How about we end this conversation right here and take my bags upstairs," she said feeling extremely uncomfortable. This was exactly the conversation she had hoped to avoid with him.

Jim helped Kate upstairs with her bags and then left to go home, leaving Kate alone in her own apartment.

She stood inside and looked around her apartment for a few minutes. For the first time in two weeks she finally had some time just to herself, no one else around. As much as she usually loved it, at that moment, she had never felt so alone. It seemed the time away had changed her more than she thought. A few days being back there was sure to change that though, she would get used to living alone again, she was sure of it. It wasn't like she was really home that often, she spent most of her time at work, sometimes even sleeping on the couch in the break room.

Kate poured herself a glass of wine, ran a bubble bath and decided she would just relax for the evening. Getting in the bath brought back memories of the Richard Castle spa bath special and she giggled to herself thinking of how excited Rick was about it. Hers was definitely not as grand but, it would do. She relaxed back in it, took a sip of wine then placing the glass on the small table beside her she closed her eyes and just let her mind go wherever it wanted.

She reminisced about the past few weeks. They really had been quite eventful. To think that a visit to her father in rehab, lead to her meeting her Richard Castle, her favourite author, and then that lead to them being invited to the Hamptons where she had completely fallen in love with him. It all happened so fast but felt so right. The best part was that he loved her back, and when he told her, she knew he meant it. It wasn't something he said just to get her to sleep with him. She'd experienced that before, and it left her heartbroken when she realised the truth. Richard Castle though, he was being quite the gentleman. He was waiting for her, and even though she teased him terribly, he never pushed. Soon, she thought to herself, she'd be ready soon. Now that they were back in the city, she still wasn't going to jump into bed with him the first chance she had because even though she trusted him and trusted that he loved her. And even though he said he wouldn't let her run, and he wouldn't leave. She still wanted to be sure it was going to work between them before she took that step. She didn't want to give herself away too soon, and then be even more heartbroken if things didn't work out. This way she still kept a little bit of herself to herself. She realised she was going to have to be careful though. She couldn't keep teasing him and then walking away, it just wasn't fair to him.

* * *

Alexis had talked non-stop all the way home about how excited she was to see her friends again and tell them everything that she had been up to and about Kate and her father. She thought they would be very impressed with the fact that she knew a cop and got to hang out with one for a few weeks.

Rick loved to see his young girl excited and full of energy but after being in the car with her non-stop talking for so long, he could do with a few minutes without her talking his ear off. He sent Alexis upstairs to his loft with his mother, and said he would get the door man, Tony, to help him with the bags and when Tony came out to help, Rick simply told him not to rush and to take his time. Tony was a nice young man, in his mid-twenties, and Rick enjoyed his company. He often invited him up at the end of his shift for a coffee, but he always said he had to rush off to his mother, who wasn't well at home.

As Tony began lifting out the first bag to take inside the building, Rick simply looked around at everything around him. As much as he liked the peace and quiet of the Hamptons and the serenity that came with it, there was something about the hustle and bustle that just felt right to him. He was brought up amongst it, so it felt like home. It was home. And after a few months in rehab, away from everything, and then a couple of weeks in the Hamptons, he was glad to be back.

"It's good to have you back, Mr Castle," Tony said making his way back out to the vehicle.

"It's good to be back Tony," Rick said patting the doorman on the shoulder. "And it's Rick. Do I have to tell you every time?" he said with a laugh.

"Sorry, Mr Castle. My mother always says I should use only surnames while I'm at work. Says it's good manners."

Rick understood his devotion to his mother and simply nodded his head. "Well then, Mr Castle is fine, but if you ever see me outside of work, Rick is fine too. How has everything been here?"

Tony liked Mr Castle. He was one of the few people that lived in the building that would actually have a conversation with him. He was the one occupant who bothered to learn anything about him. He had told Castle about his mothers illness and there had been times when all he needed was someone to listen and Castle was always willing.

"Yeah, all has been well here. You know nothing exciting happens while you're away. I think the excitement follows you around."

Rick smiled at the young man. "How's your mother?"

"She's doing okay. It's hard, but we're managing."

"You know where I am if you need anything."

"Thanks. So tell me, how was your holiday? Your daughter was very excited about it."

"It was amazing," Rick said as pictures of Kates smiling face appeared in his head. He didn't realise the smile that slowly grew on his face.

"Oh, I know that look. You met a woman," Tony said.

"You bet I did. She is… gosh, I don't even know where to start, amazing. I've never met anyone like her before. She's beautiful, smart, sexy, absolutely remarkable, and you know the best part, she's mine!"

"Great holiday then?"

"Absolutely!" he said closing the door to the car, as he removed the last of the bags. "Well, we should get these upstairs before my mother comes down looking for me."

All the bags were placed on a trolley and taken in the elevator to the loft. Rick thanked Tony with an extremely generous tip which he tried to refuse, but Rick told him he and his mother deserved it.

Once Tony was on his way back downstairs, Rick closed and locked the door and went upstairs to Alexis. He found her sitting on her bed with the stuffed penguin Kate had bought her. He had expected her to want to leave it with her collection in the Hamptons but she insisted it came back to the city with them.

"Hey pumpkin," he said and took a seat next to her. Leaning over he kissed the top of her head and then smoothed her hair with his hand. "Are you happy to be home?"

"Yeah," she said as she nodded, but didn't look up. She just continued to look at the penguin she was fiddling with in her hands.

"What's up?" Rick asked, knowing something was wrong.

"Do you really think Kate and her dad will come and visit us?"

"Of course they will. We're all having dinner this Thursday remember."

Alexis nodded but didn't look convinced.

"What's wrong Alexis? They said they'll be here, and I don't think they would lie. Kate might have to work, but if she can't make it for dinner, she'll come another day, when she can."

"You're not just saying that?"

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know." Alexis sighed and her eyes glanced over to her dressing table.

Rick noticed her shifted gaze and quickly looked over to see what his daughter had looked at. On the dressing table sat a small framed photograph of her and her mother from a few years ago, and it all made sense. Alexis barely saw her mother. She got so excited when Meredith came to visit, but her trips were always short, and they always ended with the promise that she would be back soon, but soon very rarely came. It became obvious to Rick that Alexis was worried that Kate and her father would just disappear with promises to be back, but they wouldn't keep them. Alexis had become close to the two Beckett's and she was comfortable around them. She needed more positive adult influences in her life, so Rick wanted to make sure they stuck around, if not for him, for his daughter.

Rick pulled Alexis into a hug. "I love you, pumpkin. And I will do everything I can to make sure we don't lose them okay."

He held her there for a few moments until his phone beeped inside his pocket.

"This could be Kate now," she said to Alexis as he let her go. "Should we check?"

She smiled and nodded.

Rick opened up his phone to read the message he had received.

_Hey, just letting you know I got home safely. Looking forward to talking to you tonight. My house is so empty and quiet. _

"Should we call her?" Rick said wide-eyed and full of excitement, while Alexis simply nodded once again.

He dialled Kate's number and she picked up within a couple of rings.

"I didn't expect you to be calling so soon," she said laughing as she answered the phone.

"I have someone here who wants to talk to you," Rick said.

"Really? You sure it's not just you that wants to talk to me?" she teased.

"Well, of course I do, but first, hang on a second," he said and he handed the phone over to Alexis.

"Kate?" Alexis said into the phone.

"Hey Alexis, how was your car trip home?"

"It was good. Jerome kept me company."

"Jerome? The penguin?" Kate laughed.

"Yeah, and I think I may have talked dads ear off. I saw him trying to switch off his brain numerous times."

"Well, you know, I'm pretty sure Jerome loved listening to everything you had to say."

There was a moment of silence before Alexis spoke again.

"Hey Kate, are you really coming to dinner on Thursday?"

"I'm gonna try honey," she said, letting the endearment slip off her tongue like it was nothing big, but she knew it was. She really liked the young girl, and felt like she had grown quite close to her, which was unusual. She didn't normally have close relationships with children, she loved kids, but being friends with them just didn't ever feel right. "But, if I have to work, I promise I'll come around some other time okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for coming on holidays with us Kate. It was fun ganging up on dad with you, we'll have to do it again soon."

"I'd love to Alexis."

"Well, dad looks like he's getting impatient, so I'll give his phone back to him. Bye Kate"

"Bye Alexis"

"Me again," Rick said as he put the phone by his ear and started heading back downstairs to put his bags in his room. "Glad you got back safely, but I am sorry to hear that your house is empty and quiet. You are still more than welcome to join us over here, the door is always open to you."

"Thanks Rick, but I'll stick to what I said. I'm staying at home tonight." As Kate shifted where she sat in the bathtub her free hand fell off the edge of the tub and into the water with a splash.

"Kate? Where are you?"

"In the tub," she answered matter-of-factly.

"You're talking to me while you're in the tub? Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate," he whined.

"Hey, no whining. You called me remember. I texted like you asked and didn't expect you'd be calling so soon."

"Yeah, well Alexis was feeling a little down, and I think after talking to you she's feeling better."

"Oh, is everything okay?" Kate asked concerned.

The care in Kate's voice made Ricks heart jump a little. He still didn't know how he could be so lucky to have a woman that not only loved him and cared for him, but it sounded like she was beginning to love his little girl too. "Yeah, I'll go check on her again in a minute but I think she'll be fine."

"You'll let me know if there's anything I can do won't you?"

"Of course. Thanks Kate. I should probably go, I have things to put away, dinner to organise and a little girl to check on. I'll call you again later."

"I look forward to it"

"I miss you already," he said without thinking. They'd only been apart for a few hours. How could he possibly be missing her already? He got a shock when she replied.

"I miss you too."

They both sighed before Kate spoke again. "Talk to you later then?"

"Yeah. Bye Kate."

"Bye Rick."

They both hung up their phones simultaneously and Kate relaxed further into her bath while Rick went back to check on Alexis again.

* * *

_**So, don't ask where Tony came from or why I included him. He just kinda got in there and stuck there, and I dunno, I guess we get to see a side of Rick that we hadn't seen before. I think Tony may come back :) We shall see!**_

_**Also, can I just say I am sooooooo thankful for the "undo" function. So, I had just edited this chapter, highlighted it to copy it over and hit the wrong button and it disappeared. NOOOOOOOOOOO! Thankfully, "undo" made it reappear, which does kinda seem a little strange really. When I think undo I think take away from whats there, but it added it back. Okay, thats me randomly going on about nothing. **_

_**Oh and I should say YAY for hitting more than 400 followers (I think that's what it was)... so thank you to all you people following, and for the consistent reviews. I'm glad you all enjoy my random notes that have nothing to do with the story at the end of each chapter! See you in a few days!**_


	29. Chapter 29

After the busy day and the car trip home, Martha and Alexis were fairly tired and had gone to bed early leaving Rick alone for the evening. He didn't mind though, it meant he had more time to call Kate without worrying about his mother trying to listen in or his daughter interrupting.

He'd cleaned up after their dinner, placed the empty takeaway containers in the bin, and washed up their glasses, then went to his room to make his call.

The phone rang a couple of times before Kate picked up and when she did she sounded a little out of breath, like she had been running.

When Kate heard her phone ringing, she immediately got up from her position on the floor and ran to answer it. She had started to feel a little lonely without anyone to talk to since she spoke to Rick earlier and she had been waiting for him to call back again. Earlier, she had realised she didn't really have that many friends because she was always so busy working. She had wanted to call someone to tell them about her holiday but came to realise there wasn't anyone she felt all that close to and it was something she had decided that she needed to work on. She was going to need someone around to talk to, especially when it came to relationship stuff, because this relationship was unlike any other. She wasn't going to be able to do it on her own, and she knew there were certain things she couldn't go to her father with.

"Hey Rick," she answered without even looking at the screen.

"Did I ever tell you how pretty you are when you smile?"

"How do you know I'm smiling?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you hiding in my house without me realising?"

"I can hear it in your voice, and I can feel it coming through the phone. I'm glad I make you smile."

"Hmmm, you're a little overconfident there don't you think? How do you know it's you that making me smile?" Kate teased.

"I just know. So, what are you up to?" he asked. "You sounded a little out of breath when you answered."

"Just doing some yoga."

"After you've had a bath? Kate, doesn't that seem a little backwards."

"Actually, now that you mention it. Yeah, it does."

"So, let me guess. Your yoga outfit… Little black mini shorts and a purple tank top?"

Kate laughed at his guess. Although he wasn't entirely wrong, she didn't understand his choice. "Mini shorts? Why mini shorts?"

"Well, it's what I would hope you'd be wearing if I was there with you, so I could admire your perfect legs."

"Right," Kate said a little amused. She remembered a comment Rick made previously about women's flexibility and what it did to a man, and she had to hold back a laugh as she imagined how difficult it would be for Rick to keep his hands to himself if he ever did watch her do yoga in mini shorts. "I'm sorry to disappoint you Castle, but it's long yoga pants here. The purple tank top is pretty close though. Why'd you guess purple?"

"I don't know. I just felt like it would be a Kate kind of colour."

"Really? Well, it is my favourite colour."

"I'll write that down, you never know when that may come in handy. Anything else I should know about you?"

"You already know tons about me."

"But not everything. Favourite chocolates, favourite flower, favourite food, you know that kind of thing." All this information would come in handy for future dates.

"Isn't that what dating is about? Getting to know one another. I can't just tell you everything, you need to figure some of it out."

"So, how about you come around and join me for a movie tonight then, let me figure you out some more."

"I can't Rick. I told you, I need to get myself back into some sort of routine before work starts on Monday."

"Yeah, I know," he said a little dimly.

"It's not that I don't want to, believe me I do, but I need to get out of holiday mode and back into life mode." She did feel a little bad for him but she wasn't sure why. She had never felt bad telling other guys that she wasn't going to spend the night with them, so why Rick? Plus she'd spent the last few nights with him, surely a couple of nights away wouldn't hurt. Their relationship was new, they couldn't rush into spending every night together. Some times it was better to take things slow.

"I understand. I guess I have things I should be doing too. Like unpacking, contacting my publisher about my new ideas. You know, the boring work stuff."

"Yeah, I have my fair share of boring work stuff," Kate said with a laugh.

"I thought being a cop would be like non-stop excitement," Rick said surprised.

"Have I ever mentioned paper work to you before?"

"No."

"Ahh… well there's the boring part. It's not to bad when you stay on top of it, but if you get behind, it's a pain in the backside."

Rick laughed. "I can only imagine. My publisher is like that."

Kate was completely confused at that comment. "How so?" she asked.

"Well, if I get behind on a book, she is constantly calling or emailing me. And if I am on top of it, she pretty much stays out of my way. I've tried ignoring her before, but she'll just turn up on my doorstep. Her and my publicist," he said with some frustration, "they're both the same."

"Sounds like this happens often."

"Hopefully it wont happen as much as it has been, but yeah, the last few months they were on my back _all_ the time."

Kate thought back to what Rick had told her on the beach about why he had gone into rehab, and remembered him saying then, that the constant nagging from his publisher and publicist had not helped him at all.

"I hope that don't happen anymore either."

"As long as you stick to your word and help me with the NYPD stuff, then I don't think it'll happen. It'll be great, I'll have a new book out before you know it."

"Of course. And you know what, if they start hounding you, send them my way. I'll deal with them," she said with determination.

"As hot as you make that sound. I'm not sure a cop would scare these two, they are fairly unyielding individuals. When they want something, they'll keep at it until they get it."

"Then I guess I'll just have to make sure to keep you on your toes, so they don't have to. I'll do it nicely and maybe even offer rewards when you're a good boy," she finished seductively.

"I like the sound of that," Rick said grinning widely.

They spoke on the phone for more than two hours about absolutely anything and everything. Rick asked about the car trip home with her father, he asked about her plans for the following day and Kate had asked about his. They didn't actually realise just how long they had been on the phone until Rick walked into his room to grab his charger, and saw the time on the clock.

"Hey Kate, have you seen the time lately?"

Rick heard shuffling on the other end of the phone and then a gasp. "Oh my goodness, where did the last few hours go?"

"I don't think this is what you had in mind when you said you wanted to get back into a routine, you probably need all the sleep you can get before going back."

"Yeah, I probably should be heading off to bed."

"It's been fun Kate. I'll call you again tomorrow?"

"Yeah." There was a slight pause before she spoke again. "Hey Rick,"

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind staying on the line just a little longer. My house really is quiet, and lonely."

"You want me to stay here until you go to sleep?"

"Is that a little strange?"

"No Kate, I think it's kind of cute. Of course I'll stay. Just give me a few minutes while I use the bathroom, and get myself ready for bed."

"Right yeah, me too." She probably could have had a shower, but she decided she wanted Rick on the phone more than she wanted a shower, so it could wait until morning.

They both left their phones while they brushed their teeth and changed into their night clothes. Rick was the first one back to his phone and he waited until he heard Kate pick up her phone as she climbed into bed.

"I wish you were here with me," he said to her.

"Me too, and I know what you're going to say, so don't even think about it. I know your door is open, I know I am welcome to come and join you, but I can't. Not right now."

"I know."

"Thanks for doing this Rick."

"Anything for you. Just close your eyes and go to sleep, I'm not going anywhere."

They both set their phones on the pillows beside them and put them on speaker. Rick listened to Kate's breathing waiting for the moment he knew she was asleep before he would even consider hanging up or going to sleep himself. Every now and then he would whisper gentle caring words to her, finishing with an "I love you," just before she finally fell asleep.

He heard her soft, mumbled reply of "I love you too," before her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep.

* * *

Kate woke to the familiar sound of her alarm the next morning. She didn't really have any need to put it on, but she didn't want to sleep late and lose valuable hours of the day when she had a lot to do before going back to work the next day.

She rolled over and turned it off then looked at her phone to check for messages or missed calls and she was surprised to see she had a great number of messages from Castle, and she really wasn't sure how her phone hadn't managed to wake her with all the buzzing it must have been doing beside her. She knew she'd been sleeping better in the Hamptons, but she thought that would have stopped now that she was back in her own bed on her own. She remembered how Rick had stayed on the line as she fell asleep and the gentle words he whispered into his phone as she slipped into slumber. Could it simply be that just hearing his voice was enough to make her sleep better?

She unlocked her phone and started to go through the messages Rick had sent and almost rolled off the bed she began laughing so hard. From what she could see, Rick had either not slept overnight or had just woken very early in the morning and was playing tricks on Alexis again.

There were multiple photos of himself pulling faces behind a sleeping Alexis, or surrounding her with toys again. The one that really made her laugh was when Alexis had obviously woken unexpectedly. Her red hair was a tangled mess and she really didn't look happy, Rick snapped a photo at just the right time to get the full grumpy Alexis look. Then it was followed by a photo of himself with this innocent look that said 'I didn't do it'. That was the final photo and had been sent only 30 minutes ago so she guessed Alexis probably went back to sleep and Rick left her alone.

Kate hoped that he hadn't gone back to sleep himself, because now she just wanted to call him.

"I was wondering when you would wake up," Rick said as he answered his phone.

Kate laughed, "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Uh yeah, a few hours but then I was having too much fun with Alexis and I don't think I could have gone back to sleep even if I tried."

Kate laughed. "Well, it did make for an interesting beginning to my day."

"Good! Just so you know, I plan on making all of your mornings interesting."

"Really? How are you going to do that?"

"I can't tell you, or it wont be a surprise. It will be easier when you're here though."

Kate rolled her eyes, and smiled even though she knew he couldn't see it. He was just so unbelievably confident about them. It should have scared her, but it didn't, even though she didn't have the same confidence.

"So," Rick continued after a second of silence. "I recall you saying something about going shopping today for new shirts for work. I was thinking…"

"I'd love you to join me Rick," Kate said before he finished.

"How did you know that's what I was going to ask?"

"I don't know. There's something in the tone of your voice, and it would…"

"Oh, you're gonna be a brilliant detective, I can just see it," he interrupted.

"Thanks, but as I was saying, it would be nice to see you today. I'm not sure what time I'll have over the next few days."

"See, you should have just stayed with me last night."

Kate sighed. "Another night, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Good."

"So, would you like me to come past and pick you up in a couple of hours and we'll head to the stores."

"Sounds great. Alexis too?"

"Yeah, I don't think she'll let me go without her if she knows I'm going with you," he laughed.

Kate gave Rick her address and they said their goodbyes before going about their usual morning routines.

* * *

By lunch time Kate had picked up a few new shirts and a couple of pairs of pants. Of course, Rick had tried to pay numerous times saying it was his duty as her boyfriend, but she refused to allow it. A couple of times she distracted him by finding something that looked extremely revealing and told him she might have to come back and buy something similar when he wasn't with her. It worked every time, and she watched as he'd start picturing her wearing the item as she snuck away to pay.

Alexis had helped with the distraction a couple of times as well by pulling him along to look at something she had seen that she liked and each time she did it she winked at Kate. That distraction technique also landed Alexis with a couple of new outfits as well.

They walked hand in hand, with Kate between both Rick and Alexis to the food court, while Rick carried all the bags in his free hand. As much as Rick would have preferred to take Kate to a restaurant, the food court was easier and he knew there would be less chance of cameras spotting him amongst the crowds of people, especially while they were happily holding hands. The last thing he needed was the newspaper to splash crazy stories about them, when everything between them was still new.

Rick went and bought Thai leaving the ladies at the table with the bags.

"Shopping with you is fun," Alexis said. "And you make dad behave himself," she laughed.

Kate smiled at the young girl and realised she probably hadn't experienced shopping like this very often. When Kate was Alexis's age she loved going shopping with both her parents. She guessed that Alexis probably hadn't been shopping with both her parents in quite some time. Kate wasn't her mother, and wasn't trying to replace her, but shopping with the Castles really made her feel like family and hoped that Alexis would be able to feel the joy of family shopping days.

"Yeah, it's nice. We'll have to make sure we do this more often." Kate responded taking her seat across from the young girl.

"Really?" Alexis asked excited.

"Of course. You've been extremely helpful, distracting your father for me. Also, your advice has been great, I've noticed you shaking your head at certain items. You know I often go shopping by myself and buy things that I realise I don't like when I get home. I think you've prevented me from doing that this time."

"So, you're okay that I came shopping with you then?" Alexis asked fiddling with her hands in front of her on the table.

"Of course I am, Alexis. What makes you think I wouldn't want you here?"

Alexis looked down at her hands unsure of what to say. "I don't know. I just thought maybe you'd want some time alone with dad."

Kate reached over the small table and placed her hand over Alexis's. "Hey, you and your dad come as a package, and you know what, I wouldn't want it any other way. We'll get times alone, but I also want to get times like this with both of you. And we'll have girl times as well and we'll leave your dad behind. What do you think?"

"That sounds great. You can show me how to do my make up and stuff."

Kates eyes widened. "Make up?"

"Oh, not now," Alexis said noticing a look of panic in Kate's eyes. "In a couple of years time, when I'm older. Dad says I don't need any, I'm beautiful just like this, but one day I'd like to know how to do it like you do."

To say Kate was shocked would be an understatement. It wasn't because Alexis wanted to know about make up. She was just so confident that Kate would still be around in a few years. How was everyone else so confident while she still struggled. She knew she wanted it to last forever, but they still had a long way to go.

Kate nodded. "Your dad is right, you are beautiful without it, but I'd love to help you with things like that."

Alexis got down off her seat and came round to wrap her arms around her.

Kate thought it was sweet and she quickly hugged her back.

"Thanks Kate. We're gonna have some great times together."

"Yeah, we are."

"Love you," Alexis said still hugging Kate.

Kate didn't even notice what she was saying until it was said. "Love you too Alexis," she said and placed a kiss on the top of the young girls head.

Neither of them noticed that they were being watched until they heard Rick's voice. "Care to make this a group hug?" he asked.

He had been there to see Alexis hug Kate. His heart jumped a little to hear Alexis tell Kate she loved her, but then when Kate returned it, he found himself blinking away tears that were threatening to take place in his eyes. Not only did he have a beautiful little girl, and an amazing woman, but he now knew that they had each other as well.

Alexis finally pulled away from Kate and they both looked up at him.

"Sorry dad, girl only hug," she said grinning.

Rick took his seat next to Kate as she turned to him. "You have to wait for yours," she teased, squeezing his knee under the table and then left her hand resting there.

Rick placed the containers of food in front of them and then leaned over to kiss Kate on the cheek lingering there a little longer than was really necessary. "You… are breath-taking," he whispered before backing away again and taking a mouth full of food.

After eating and before they went to the last couple of stores they made a stop to the bathroom for Alexis.

"So is Victoria's Secrets one of these last stores you wanted to look in today?" he said wiggling his eyebrows.

Kate shoved Rick back gently on the shoulder but with the smile she had on her face, Rick knew she wasn't really annoyed at him. "I am not going underwear shopping with you, and I'm especially not going with your daughter."

"Good call."

He was just about to take a step closer and pull her into his arms when a couple of young women ran up to him.

"You're Richard Castle aren't you?" they said excitedly.

Rick looked at Kate and mouthed an apology.

"Yes, that would be me," he said with a nod.

"I told you it was him," one woman said to the other.

"We love your books," the other started saying to him. "Would you sign something for us?"

"Uh yeah, I think I can do that." He felt in his pockets for a pen, knowing that he almost always had one on him because inspiration could strike at any time. "What've you got to sign?" he said pulling out a pen.

Kate really wasn't expecting what happened next. Both women pulled there tops low and basically poked their chests in Rick's face.

He looked from the women to Kate, then back to the women and over to Kate again trying to decide what to do. He was known for this kind of thing but with Kate right there, he didn't feel right signing other women's chests.

Kate could see the decision worrying him. She knew he was known to have signed many chests before so she couldn't really be annoyed, and the way he was looking she knew he would turn them down if he could figure out how without getting her involved. She gave him a slight nod as if to give him permission, then turned away. She did not want to see other women shoving their boobs in his face.

It was over quickly and once the women had their signatures, he capped the pen wished them well and turned away hoping they got the point that he didn't wish to keep talking to them.

Kate felt Rick join her as he placed an arm on the small of her back. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "That really doesn't happen often. I would have said I didn't have a pen if I knew that's what they wanted me to sign."

"It's okay. I guess things like that are going to take some getting used to."

"You don't need to get used to it. I'll stop signing chests for you. You are much more important than they are."

Kate looked up at him and into his eyes. "Maybe just one more? Richard Castle, will you sign my chest?" she said. She tried to hold in the laughter, but she couldn't help herself and let it out, making Rick smile and easing his guilt. "But not here and not right now," she added quickly.

"Anything for you," he winked. "But I'm definitely not signing it here. Too many other guys eyes around. And I want you just for myself. Now that I think about it, maybe I should never have encouraged that type of thing to begin with. What makes a women bare her chest to basically a stranger in the middle of a shopping mall? Where's the self respect in that?"

Kate took his hand in hers, squeezed it gently and gave him a smile. "I don't know Rick, I really don't."

A second later Alexis reappeared from the bathroom and they were continuing on their shopping trip.

Rick noticed almost immediately that Kate was standing closer than she had been previously. Rather than just taking his hand like she had earlier, she had snaked her arm around him and into his back pocket. Seeing the fan girls had obviously made Kate jealous and now she was staking her claim. He wrapped his arm over her shoulder in response to let her know that he was completely hers and she had nothing to worry about.

They continued browsing stores for another hour before they decided that they had looked at enough and they were happy with their purchases.

Rick called his car service and told them where to collect them and soon they were on their way home.

They stopped first at Kate's house. Rick didn't want to assume that Kate would want them to join her upstairs so he told Alexis to wait in the car with Terence, the driver, and he helped Kate up to her apartment with her bags.

Kate unlocked her door, feeling Rick close behind her. She pushed it open just slightly to put her bags down inside and then took the bags from Rick putting those inside also before turning completely to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for coming with me today," she said resting her forehead against his. "You made my shopping experience much more entertaining."

"I'm glad I could be of service," he said. "And thank you for constantly bringing smiles to my little girls face. She's been let down so much by others, it's good to know you're there for her." He didn't need to mention Meredith's name for Kate to know who he was referring to when he said others. "And she loves you, which makes things so much easier for us."

"You know I love her too. She's a good kid. It's hard not to."

"Well, It means a lot to me. That you would…"

"I know Rick," Kate said as she raised up on her toes reaching her lips to his. She didn't need to hear anything further. She already knew what it meant to him. Their mouths gently danced against one another for a moment until Rick pulled away.

"Well, I better get back down to Alexis," he said taking a step back. "Want to come back to the loft with us?"

"I'm sorry Rick, I want to but I shouldn't. I still have a few things to sort out before work tomorrow."

"It's okay. I'll call you later, to say goodnight. I promise I wont have you up for so long this time."

"Okay."

"And don't think I haven't forgotten about signing your chest."

"We'll talk about that another day," she responded smiling. She placed her hand on his chest and gave him one last chaste kiss before gently pushing him back away from the door. "You better get back to your daughter before she comes looking for you."

"Okay, bye Kate," he said walking backwards down the hall.

"Bye Rick," Kate said unable to lose the ridiculous grin that had taken up residence on her face.

"Love you," he mouthed and blew a kiss just before turning around to continue his walk down the hall, downstairs and back out to his daughter.

* * *

_**So, I have some very good news for you all. There shouldn't be a break in my updating the story because I'm a couple of chapters ahead of myself again, and I've got tonight, tomorrow and half of Monday to do more writing! So I should be good! PHEW!**_

_**I'd like to say a big WELCOME to the newcomers to the story. Better late than never right! To you guys, and the old guys and the in between guys and well anyone who dares to try and put up with me and my stories... YOU ARE AWESOME!**_

_**Oh, and a shout out to my new best friend.. you know who you are *wink* hahaha. Thank you for your encouragement and fun responses :)**_

_**And here is a random life lesson: When it's wet and raining outside, Vans are not the correct choice of footwear when you are planning to go walking around the city for hours! I met up with a friend who was on holidays over here, and well I spent half my day wearing damp cold socks and shoes because I didn't think before leaving home. I solved the problem by buying a pair of gumboots (or wellingtons... I'm not sure what others call them) and a new pair of socks... DRY FEET ARE GREAT! And I have to admit, I think my new boots are very stylish even if they are kinda like plastic! I'm just not sure they really worked with the outfit. But... sometimes we have to sacrifice the awesomeness of our outfit to keep our feet dry and warm! Now I am home, in bed, with my electric blanket... ahhhhh! Time to write some more!**_


	30. Chapter 30

Kate woke on Monday a little nervous about the day ahead of her. It was her first day back at work, and her first day of detective training. She didn't understand why she felt so nervous though, it wasn't like it was going to be a complete change. She had been working with the homicide department for a while, so she knew their procedures, she knew the horrors that sometimes lay before them but, working a case as a detective was going to be completely different to working the case as a uniform cop. She was actually going to have to put details together, find answers and hunt for people. It wasn't just going to be a matter of following orders and looking through databases or questioning people at the scene anymore. She was going to have to pay a lot of attention, take down every detail. She knew that one missed detail could be the difference between a killer going to jail or walking free. When she was a detective, it would be on her.

Still, thinking about all that was ridiculous. It was her first day… in training. It wasn't like she was going to be in charge of a case. She would be paired with another detective if they caught a case but, she expected most of her time on her first day would be spent going through paperwork and information.

After showering, she fixed her hair and make up then put on one of her new shirts with a pair of black pants and looked at herself in the mirror trying to decide whether she thought she looked the part. She looked good, but she felt like she really needed her badge and firearm before the outfit would be complete. Just as she was about to put on her shoes, a pair of 4 inch heeled boots, there was a knock at the door.

She had no idea who it could possibly be this early and realised it was most likely to be her father but as she opened the door, she got quite a surprise. In fact, it was a stranger, holding a boxed arrangement of flowers with a card inside.

"Kate Beckett?" the young man asked from behind the flowers.

"Yes, that's me," Kate said.

"These are for you," he said, holding them out to Kate. She knew exactly who they were from without even looking at the card. Only Rick would have bought something so extravagant.

"Thank you," Kate said, balancing the box on one hand while she went to put her other hand on the door to close it.

"I, uh, miss Beckett?" the young man said, starting to sound nervous.

"Yes?" Kate said.

"There's more coming."

"More?"

He nodded.

"How much more?" she asked.

"Um," he sounded like the nerves were growing while he stood there in front of her. "I was given strict instructions. You have to read the card before you get the rest."

Kate squinted her eyes at the man in front of her trying to decide if he was serious, but he didn't back down. He was serious. "Okay," she said and she walked over to the table placed the flowers down and walked back to the door so the flower delivery guy could see her reading the card.

She opened the envelope and found a card and another envelope inside. She really had to finish getting ready for work, she didn't have time for all this so she just read the card.

_Dear Kate,_

_Remember how I said I wanted to make each of your mornings interesting. Well, I hope this is interesting enough for you. I wanted to wish you good luck for your first day as a detective. I know you were nervous, even though you didn't admit it on the phone last night, I could hear it in your voice, so I hope this somehow calms those nerves and brings a smile to your face. You really do look beautiful when you smile. _

_The other envelope is for the delivery boy but only if he does a good job. I didn't think it would be right to make him do all this without giving him a tip. _

_Enjoy your flowers. _

_Rick xx_

_PS. If you'd told me the other day what you favourite flowers were, you could have saved yourself a lot of embarrassment ;)_

Kate laughed as she closed the card, and held the other envelope in her hand.

"Okay, I've read the card," she said. "Can we get this over with now?"

The young boy stepped out of the door way and Kate put her head out in the hall to see another 10 flower delivery men and women with flower arrangements of different colours and styles.

She rolled her eyes and just let them all in her apartment and told them to place them wherever they could find room.

As they all left again she handed over the envelope to the first delivery man. "You deserve this," she said.

"There's just one more," the young man said gesturing for her to take a look outside her door again.

She poked her head back out of her door to see Rick walking around the corner with a single rose in his hand.

"I think he might be one of the good ones Miss Beckett," the young man said with a wink and he left just before Rick made it to her door.

"Oh my god, Rick," she said. "You are unbelievable!"

"And you, my dear, are unbelievably remarkable," he responded holding out the single rose to her.

Kate rolled her eyes but took the extended rose before responding. "And you are causing me to run remarkably late," she said before turning and walking into her apartment, leaving the door open for Rick to follow her in.

Atleast, she had expected Rick to follow her in but when she turned back to say something to him again, she saw him still standing in the doorway fumbling with his hands.

"Rick, you can come inside. Your flower display may have been slightly embarrassing, but I'm not going to kill you."

"I, uh, I wasn't sure if you'd want me inside your apartment," he said nervously.

It was then that Kate realised that he hadn't actually been inside her apartment before, he'd only been to her door the day before and he was being a gentleman and waiting for the invitation. She walked back over to him and took his hand in hers and pulled him through the door then stepped up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Of course you are welcome inside my apartment Rick. Make yourself comfortable, I've just got to finish getting ready, but I do have to go soon."

Kate went back to her bedroom, did a final check of her hair and make up. It looked good, then she picked up her shoes and took them out to the lounge area where Rick was waiting.

"Can I do anything to help?" Rick asked as she reappeared. "Make you coffee? Breakfast?"

"As good as a coffee sounds right now, I do need to get going in a few minutes so don't really have time."

"Do you have a take away mug?"

"Unfortunately no, but it's ok. I'll make coffee when I get to the precinct."

"So, will you tell me what your favourite flower is now?" Rick asked.

"Oh, I don't know, I think I'll wait and see if you can figure that out yourself."

"Don't you worry, I can be quite the detective myself, so I'll have it figured out in no time at all."

She'd finished putting her boots on and she really did have to go but, she felt bad kicking Rick out so soon after what he'd done.

"Right, I'm sure you will" she said standing up and walked over to stand in front of him. She leant over and kissed him deeply placing her hands on his legs. She remained there just long enough to get a taste of him and managed to share some of her lip gloss with him. "I really do have to go now," she said when she pulled away and held out her hand to help him up off the chair.

"Walk out with you?" he asked.

"I'll just get the rest of my things."

Once Kate had everything she needed, she locked her door and she and Rick made their way down stairs.

"You know," she said bumping his shoulder gently with hers, "now that you've gone and done that this morning, I'm going to have high expectations."

"Oh," Rick said turning her head to look at her. "I didn't think of that."

Kate laughed. "I'm joking. You don't need to surprise me with anything, really. I'd be happy just to know that you're thinking of me."

"That I can do. So, how are you feeling?"

"A little nervous but I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Kate, you're going to be better than fine. You're going to be the best damn detective this city has ever seen."

"I'm glad you think so, just gotta get through all the training first."

When they made it to the front door of the building, it was time to go their separate ways. Kate to the precinct, and Rick back home.

Rick pulled Kate into his body for one last hug, and he just held her there for a moment before walking outside. "You're gonna be great. Let me know when you're finished for the day. I want to hear all about it."

"I will," Kate said as she stepped out of his embrace.

They both went through the doors and went their separate ways. Kate couldn't believe how lucky she was to have someone like Rick in her life. Willing to do absolutely crazy things to make her smile and it seemed like he was going to be her own personal cheerleader for work, which was completely new to her. She was used to guys hating the work that she did, a couple told her it was a mans job, but Rick, he encouraged her, lifted her up, he wanted her to do well. With those thoughts in her mind she knew it didn't matter what happened during the day, because she could trust that Rick would be there at the end of the day to bring a smile back to her face.

* * *

When Kate arrived at work she was immediately called into the captains office. She was introduced to the senior detective that she would be working with for the first 6 months. After this time they would assess where she's at and possibly assign her a more permanent partner.

Her detective training officer was an older guy with a stiff jaw and heavily built muscles. He looked like he had been on the job for years, and probably knew everything was to know about being a homicide detective. Of course, she'd seen him around in the precinct before, had probably worked on some of his cases, but he seemed to be one of those detectives that kept to himself a lot, and she'd never really spoken to him before. From the outside, he looked like steel, a little scary and tough to get through, but Kate was sure that somewhere inside there was a soft and happy man. She just hoped it didn't take her too long to find him. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to deal with his steely eyes and stern look on his face every day. She had Rick to keep her smiling and make life fun when she wasn't at work but she knew she was going to be spending a lot of time at work. If there was no fun at work, Rick would have a harder time getting her to smile at the end of the day, and she didn't want that for him at all.

The senior detective held out his hand, "Beckett, I am Detective Blythe, it's good to have you on our team."

"Thank you, it's good to be joining you."

"Thankyou Captain Montgomery," Blythe said turning away from Beckett. "I believe I have a team to introduce to Beckett. I will inform you of our progress."

As Kate walked out behind Detective Blythe she looked at the Captain with a look that said 'you're putting me with this guy?' The captain simply nodded and smiled and although Kate could not understand it, she knew Montgomery had never done wrong by her before, and everything would be fine.

Kate had a feeling Detective Blythe was going to be someone who did everything by the book, which didn't really bother her all that much, it meant she could trust him. She did want to know a little more about him though, so she made a mental note to ask around, find out more about him if she could.

The first people the senior detective brought her to meet were the other detectives on the team. There was a couple of others and she'd met most of them before, but it was nice to be introduced to them properly as a detective now herself.

After she'd met the team she was told they had a lot of paperwork to do but first, they had to make a trip to the morgue. As a uniform cop, Kate had never actually been to the morgue, and she'd barely spoken to any medical examiners. Blythe explained to her that it was important she get to know the M.E's because they were a vital part of finding answers in any investigation.

They went through and met a couple of different examiners, the final one they met was a woman named Lanie Parish. She seemed the most friendly of the few they had met. Detective Blythe left Kate there to ask questions while he went to get some information about an old case from another of the medical examiners.

"So Detective Beckett," Lanie said. "This is your first day I guess? Blythe usually brings the new detectives round to meet us on their first day."

"Yeah, first day as detective, I think I may have seen you at a couple of scenes though."

"It's quite likely that you have. I've been here for just over a year now. I see quite a few detectives coming through here, and can I just say it's nice to see a woman for a change. You go girl!"

Kate laughed. She liked Lanie, she had character, and she had a feeling they were going to get along just fine.

"Yeah, NYPD is dominated by men, but I like it, I think us women can do just as good a job as them."

Lanie nodded. "I think so too. And Detective Beckett, let me just let you in on one little thing about Blythe. He can be a little uh, how do you say this," she paused as she tried to decide how to word it. "Let's just say he's strict, he's very by the book but very good at his job."

"I kind of got that impression already," Kate nodded. "And it's Kate. No need to call me detective Beckett when it's just us."

"Great, I'm Lanie. It's a pleasure to meet you Kate, and I must say, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard some great things about you."

"Really you have?" Kate questioned with a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah, youngest woman to ever make detective. I've heard people saying you'll be the one to watch over the coming years."

"Wow," Kate said. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was nervous about everything earlier and now it seemed like she had no reason to be. Everyone else was confident she was going to succeed, even people that she didn't even know.

"It's pretty impressive if you ask me," Lanie finished. "I do feel like I should warn you though,"

"Warn me?"

"Well, I hear cops talk down here quite a bit. They don't realise how the sound travels down the halls but it does. Your presence throughout the 12th hasn't gone unknown, and I think you may find you have a few admirers on the sidelines. Men find it attractive when a women is strong, independent, good at her job and not easily intimidated by others, so just look out for them. I noticed you don't wear a ring, so I guess you're not married and these guys have probably noticed that already too."

"Right," Kate nodded. "Thanks Lanie. So I guess I should ask then, how do I let them know I'm unavailable without being all girly or losing that strong independent woman thing" She smiled as she said it. She's unavailable, and happily telling someone she had just met. She had it bad.

"I didn't think someone like you would be single," Lanie said. "Best thing to do is just be honest. If anyone says anything, tell them your unavailable. Simple as that! So, this guy of yours. He must be something special. Girl, if you could only see the look on your face right now."

Kate immediately dropped the smile and focused again. "Yeah, he is. Uh, thank you Lanie for the advice, but I should probably be getting going now. Apparently I have a lot of paper work to fill out already. It was nice meeting you." Kate spoke quickly just wanting to get out of the room before she was asked anymore questions about Rick. It wasn't that she was ashamed of him or even of herself for dating a guy with a reputation like his, but she just wasn't sure she was ready to share information about her love life with someone who was almost a complete stranger.

"You too Kate. Hey, what do you say we have lunch some time during the week? I often eat on my own because as you know, mostly men around here, some who'll hit on anything that moves, it'd be nice to have some female conversation for once."

"Sure, that sounds good," Kate said and she left the room to go find Detective Blythe.

As she walked down the hall she recalled a thought she had just a couple of nights ago. She needed more friends, she needed more people in her life. It looked like Lanie, even after just a few minutes, was already making her way into her life and seemed just as eager for a friend as Kate was. She did seem to be a little nosy but maybe that's just what Kate was going to need.

* * *

_**Detective Blythe? Who is that you ask? Well... I made him up. I was going to include Royce but after I watched a few scenes it seemed to me like he was her first training officer after coming out of the academy, so not the right person, and making someone up just seemed easier. **_

_**I'm not 100% sure about the scene where I've introduced Lanie... but it's there now. I just thought we were going to need some more girl talk in there, but I don't know that they would have really known each other or spent a lot of time with each other before Kate became detective. **_

_**Also, after searching for ages to find out how detective training works... I kinda found nothing, and so I've made it all up. I have absolutely no idea how things work within the NYPD so please forgive me if it's not completely right. **_

_**Anyways, with that all said.. I hope that chapter wasn't too silly. It's going to be more difficult now that they're in the city to have those lovely, intimate moments between just Rick and Kate, but hopefully I'll be able to get them in there somehow. **_

_**Time for me to go get ready to go out now :) The question is... do I wear heels or not? Hmmm... heels or no heels? That is the question. There was a time when I wouldn't even think about it, heels were not even a part of my shoe collection, now I think I have more heels than non-heels. Oh dear!**_


	31. Chapter 31

"So, did anything exciting happen this morning?" Rick asked taking his seat opposite Kate at the local café restaurant.

"Hmmmm, let me think, since we last spoke, yes actually. We found a killer but, he ran, which led to a foot chase, followed by a high speed car chase down the main street after he stole a car, then another foot chase when he crashed that car. Oh, then I was almost attacked by dogs, Detective Blythe sprained his ankle leaving me to run after the guy myself, and eventually I got him after I shot him in the leg."

Rick sat there looking at Kate wide eyed. "Seriously?"

"Castle, we spoke on the phone fifteen minutes ago, nothing exciting has happened since then."

"Oh," he said dejected. "So just more paper work then?"

"Yeah pretty much. Filling out forms mostly. I did get in a sparring session this morning, but other than that, nothing."

"Well, you know I think it's great that you're a cop and all, but I have to say that I like the idea of you not going out running after people. At least, I know you're safe," he said. "I hadn't really thought of it until now, but all those things, they're all possibilities right? I mean, they could really happen? You could be chasing down killers on your own. What if something goes wrong?"

"Rick," Kate said reaching out to take his hand that was resting on the table. "Nothing is going to go wrong. That's why we have back up."

Rick nodded. "Yeah, I know. You know what, I would feel better if I got to meet this Detective Blythe fellow. How do I know he's going to look out for you?"

"It's his job."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he'll really look after you when he needs to. I just think if I met him, I'd feel better knowing you're in capable caring hands."

"Really Rick? You want to meet him?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? Unless there's a reason you don't want me to meet him. Oh, wait a minute, don't tell me you lied about him yesterday. You told me he was a steely and almost scary looking character. And when I asked about his body type, you just said, he's not your type. He's good looking isn't he? You don't want me to meet him because he's got the perfect face and body, and he's strong and makes you feel safe."

"Rick," Kate said almost laughing. It was difficult to take him seriously as he just rambled on and on. "It's not like that at all. I'd be happy for you to meet him. It may be difficult to try and organise, but I'll see what I can do," she said really unsure about whether she'd be able to organise anything. "Everything I said about him yesterday was true. He's not my type at all, you are," she added smiling.

Ricks concerned expression soon turned into a smile, and he leaned over the table ready to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Rick, not here," Kate said, pushing him back.

He sat back again trying not to allow himself to feel rejected and Kate could see that she had upset him.

"Sorry," Kate continued, knowing she needed to explain. "It's just there's a lot of cops around and I need to stay professional."

"I understand," he said with a half-hearted smile. He did understand but it didn't mean it would make it easier for him. "So back to this Detective Blythe? You would be okay with me meeting him then?"

"Yeah, I guess. He's the one that's going to have my back and if meeting him will help you to worry less, then I'm sure we can organise it. And Rick, he can make me feel physically safe in work situations, but you're the only one who can make me feel safe," she placed her hand over her heart, "in here."

Rick reached over the table and took the hand covering her heart in his and just held it. "You know, that's probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Kate had to admit, it was probably one of the sweetest things she'd ever said and it even surprised her when she'd said it, but it was true.

A moment later, a waitress came over to take their orders, and realising they hadn't even looked at the menu they both ordered the hamburger and fries knowing they couldn't go wrong. They weren't even sure how long they were going to have before Kate would be needed back at work.

"So, I never got to ask you," Rick said once the waitress walked away. "Did you like your surprise this morning?"

Kate laughed. "The video of you and Alexis. Yes it was definitely interesting. Alexis has a beautiful voice. You, on the other hand, could do with some training."

"Oh Beckett, you wound me," he said placing his hands over his chest like he was hurt. "But just so you know, I purposely didn't sing my best. I didn't want to show Alexis up and well, I can't let you know every little secret about me right away."

"So secretly you're a pop singer when you're not writing?" Kate joked.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" There was such a childlike excitement in Rick's voice that Kate found quite sweet.

"No," she said shaking her head and watched as the excitement drained from his face. "But that's only because I'm secretly a pop star when I'm not working, and well if you truly were, I'm sure I would know about it." She tried to look as serious as possible, but Rick wasn't buying it at all.

"Kate Beckett, are you making up more stories?"

"You don't believe me either, huh?" Kate asked.

"Nope, I'm sure if either of us were secret pop singers, we would know by now. I have to admit though, I think if either of us was going to pass as a pop singer it would be you. You have a beautiful voice."

"How would you know? You've never heard me sing before," Kate said confused.

"Oh, I have a little actually. Remember when we went to see Grease, but Alexis told us to shhh. It wasn't much but it was enough for me to know that you sing beautifully."

Kate laughed. That was a fun night. Well it had been until they arrived home. But they'd gotten past that so no point in dwelling on it now.

They continued to discuss the chances of becoming pop singers when their waitress returned with their food but as soon as Kate went to take a bite of her hamburger, her phone started ringing.

"Sorry Rick, I have to get this, it's the precinct," she said as she picked up the phone and placed it at her ear. "Beckett," she answered.

Rick watched in complete amazement as the woman opposite him went from Kate, the cute and fun girlfriend, to Beckett, the serious and responsible cop. He couldn't hear exactly what was being said on the other side of her phone, but had a feeling their lunch was just about to be cut short. His suspicions were confirmed when she hung up the phone and looked at him with an apologetic expression on her face.

"I'm sorry Rick, but I have to run. We just caught a case. Blythe wants me back at the precinct ASAP."

"Should we get this in a container for you. You can eat it on the run," Rick said pointing to the food in front of her.

"I'm not sure I'm going to have time to eat Rick, or if I'm going to want to just before I go out to a homicide crime scene. Maybe just a few fries," she said as she took a few from her plate.

Rick nodded to show that he understood.

"Well, I better get going then," Kate said. "Thanks for lunch. I'm sorry I couldn't stay around to eat it with you."

"It's okay, we knew this was a possibility when we agreed to meet."

"I'll talk to you later," Kate said, standing up. She was trying to stay professional while she knew other cops were around, so she refrained from leaning in to kiss him goodbye. Instead, she squeezed his shoulder as she walked past him to go towards the door. She hoped it was enough, she felt bad leaving him so soon into lunch. When she excited the little café restaurant she turned back to look at him through the window. He hadn't moved, but he was now sitting there alone with two meals in front of him. It looked like someone had just left him there, alone, in the middle of a meal. The truth was, someone did, and that someone was her. She felt a pang of guilt strike her, and she hoped that things like that wouldn't happen often. She'd make sure she made it up to him soon. They could go out on a proper date when she wasn't working, so she'd have no need to leave.

* * *

The case had Kate tied up for the rest of the day, and she realised just how busy the life of a homicide detective could really be.

First they had to go to the scene, where Lanie was already examining the body. The learnt all they could from her about how their victim was killed while the crime scene unit went about taking photos and marking everything. Some detectives were sent to question the person who found the body, others were sent to canvas the neighbourhood, but Beckett remained with the victim.

Blythe left Kate alone with Lanie for a brief minute and Lanie and Kate took that opportunity to organise a girls lunch meeting for the following day, as long as time permitted. Once that was planned, their focus was straight back on the case. After discussing Lanie's findings, the body went into a van and straight to the morgue and Detective Blythe took Beckett around to see what the CSU guys had found.

In the first few hours following the discovery of the body there was barely time to stop and go to the bathroom. They had to get everything sorted at the scene, then they had to notify the family, and once they had photos they had to start putting together a time line of what happened in the hours surrounding the time of the murder.

They spent some time setting up their 'murder board', which was a whiteboard with pictures and all the information they had found. Once it was set up, they stood looking over everything trying to decide what their next move was. It was getting late by the time they'd settled in front of the board and Kate had a feeling she wasn't going to be going home anytime soon. She had really enjoyed her few good night calls from Rick but she knew it wasn't going to happen tonight.

She slipped away to the break room with her phone to get herself a coffee and while she was there, sent a quick text to Rick.

_'Still a lot of work to be done, I don't think I'm going to get out of here any time soon.'_

He responded almost immediately, and Kate guessed that he had most likely been waiting by his phone for her to contact him.

_'So no good night call tonight then? :(' _

'_No, not tonight :( Sleep well, Rick'_

She had to get out to the other detectives, so she didn't wait for a response. She took her fresh coffee and joined Blythe and the others back at the board to discuss their case.

It wasn't until close to 1:30am when she finally made it home. She recalled getting a text message while they were busy, but at a quick glance it looked like it was just Rick replying to her previous message to say goodnight. As she lay down in bed she looked at the message again. She wasn't going to get her phone call to say goodnight, so reading his words would have to be enough.

She was surprised when she noticed he'd sent not just one, but three messages. She didn't remember getting the second or third messages at all, and was surprised to see that they had all come a couple of hours after each other.

_'Good night Detective Beckett. Keep safe and know that I'm thinking of you,' _the first one read and it made her smile. It was simple yet sweet.

She opened the second message. _'Let me know when you are home safe, no matter what time it is.' _Reading that message made her realise just how much he cared for her and knew she really did need to find a way of introducing him to Detective Blythe. It wasn't going to be easy though. Blythe was very much about the job, she didn't know how he would respond to her request for him to meet her boyfriend. But she had to do it, for Rick.

She flicked through to the final message. _'I meant my last message. No matter what time it is, late night or early morning, let me know when you're home. Going to sleep isn't the same when I haven't heard your voice whispering good night.'_

Kate looked over to the clock on her bedside table. It was really an extremely inconvenient time to be texting anybody. Rick was probably asleep, so she set her alarm, put her phone down on the bedside table, and lay down to go to sleep. She would text him in the morning.

She closed her eyes but her mind immediately went back to the messages. Should she message him? He had asked, but she didn't want to wake him. She debated with herself trying to decide the best thing to do.

It was barely even a minute or so later that her phone buzzed next to her. Maybe it was one of the detectives with some news already because surely Castle wasn't still awake? Sure enough, picking up the phone, Kate found it was indeed Castle sending yet another message.

_'I know I've already said to message me, but I think you'll look at the time and worry about it waking me. I don't care if you wake me, I just care to know that you're okay.'_

It was amazing how well he knew her and what she would do in situations. However, the constant messaging like this every time she caught a case could become a problem. Fixing it would be easy, she just needed to promise that she would call or message no matter what time it was. He obviously didn't know how much he could trust that she would do just that, and she had almost ignored his request so maybe he was right to keep sending the messages tonight. She would make sure he didn't feel the need to do that again.

She went to type out a reply but decided he was awake anyway, so what was the harm in calling.

"Kate? You're home?" Rick whispered sleepily over the phone.

"Yeah sleepy head. I just got in a few minutes ago. I was actually just trying to decide whether I should text you or not when your last one came through."

He was suddenly feeling much more awake. "Well a phone call is much better than a message. I'm glad you didn't choose to ignore my request."

"It would be impossible to ignore. You would have kept messaging me"

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep without knowing you were safe."

"That's sweet, but you can't do this to yourself every time I have to stay out late on a case."

"Why not?"

"Because you need to get your rest. You have a daughter to take care of."

Rick once again was surprised at how much Kate thought about his daughter. She'd put Alexis's needs above what she probably wanted herself. It wasn't something he was used to from women. Not even Alexis's own mother put her own needs after those of her daughter. And every time Kate did it, Rick felt himself fall a little more in love with her.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess you're right."

"But how about I made you a deal. You go to bed and make sure you get a good nights sleep even if I'm out working on a case, and I'll always text when I get home."

"Hmmmm… how about you call?"

"What if you're asleep?" Kate asked hesitantly.

"I'll wake up"

"Really? Just like that. It wouldn't bother you."

"Not when it's you. You could never bother me."

"Okay, I'll call," Kate said giving in probably a little too quickly. She was glad Rick couldn't see her face because she was sure she had that silly grin again. It was the grin she tried to hide from people because it clearly showed just how much she had fallen for him. He would probably find it cute, and tease her about it while she would just find it embarrassing.

"Good," he said with a nod of his head, not that anyone could see it.

"So, do we have a deal? You sleep, and I promise to call" Kate asked.

"No matter what time you get home?" Rick added.

"No matter what time I get home," repeated Kate.

"Then it's a deal. What time do you have to go in tomorrow?"

"Early, I need to be up in," there was a pause as she checked the time. "Oh, my alarm will be going off in four hours."

"You should try and get some sleep then. Good night Kate. Need me to stay on the line?" He'd remained on the line with her since Saturday night, letting her get to sleep each night before he allowed himself to drift off. He wanted to be sure she knew he was there if she needed him.

"No, I think I'll be fine tonight. Good night. Oh, and Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"Going to sleep without hearing your voice wouldn't be the same either."

* * *

_**Well, it looks like things are going to start getting a little trickier now. **_

_**I haven't spent a lot of time editing this chapter due to my busy week, but wanted to get this up. Let me know if you find mistakes or if it's dodgy in parts and I'll take another look. **_

_**Also, my sore throat is back... SO NOT COOL! I think it's the cold night air and being busy that does it to me. I need a proper holiday. **_

_**For those who were wondering, I chose to wear heels on Monday, then proceeded to walk down the street for some of the night holding them in my hands. So classy right! They were like my weapon, so if anyone came near me I could attack with my heels, and I would call myself "SUPER HEELS WOMAN" Lame name, yes, but i'd be a pretty lame super hero person so the name kinda works haha. **_


	32. Chapter 32

Rick had arranged another surprise for Kate the following morning, and he was pleased when he was woken by her text to say she had received it.

Tony had been on the late night to early morning shift so Rick had asked him to take a letter on his way home, to Kate, knowing he would be going through her neighbourhood. It could have been slightly embarrassing if one of the elderly neighbours received it, so it was good to know it made it to the right place.

The note didn't say much, it just had a few simple words to encourage her and lift her confidence as she went into work. Knowing they had a case he guessed it was probably going to be a difficult day, so he hoped his words had helped in some way.

But one message was all he received and when she hadn't sent another after he responded he guessed she was busy getting ready or on her way to work.

The rest of the morning felt like it went on forever. Rick was constantly looking at his phone, hoping to get another text or a call from Kate. After the previous day, when he'd sent a number of texts, he didn't want to come across as overly needy, so he refrained from sending more, unless Kate texted first.

He'd dropped Alexis at her friends place for the day and his mother was out at the theatre so he was home alone and decided to spend some time working on his new writing ideas. He knew he had to get something together and then organise a meeting with his publisher, Gina. She had understood that he needed some time off after being in rehab, but he didn't want to keep her waiting too long. Not when he was sure she was going to love his new ideas.

By about 1pm he had an outline for his new book that he was fairly happy with so he put that aside and made his daily phone call to Jim.

"Hey Rick," Jim answered.

"Jim. How's everything going today?"

"Great," Jim responded joyfully. "Hows things for you?" he added.

"Great here too."

It was how they had begun every conversation for the last few days. It was almost as if it had become a habit, but they knew they could still trust each other to be honest if things weren't so great for one of them.

"How's work today?" Rick asked.

"Yeah it's good. I think I'm almost settled back in completely now."

"That's excellent."

"Yeah. It'll take a while before I have a full workload but, I think this will be good for me. It'll give me more time to myself and to spend time with Katie. Talking of spending time with her, I need to ask about tomorrow night's dinner, I just want to confirm we're still good to go? Your family will all be there, and Katie if she's available."

"Yeah, it's still on, but at the moment, I'm not sure Kate is going to be able to make it."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, didn't you know they caught a case? She's been pretty busy both yesterday and today, and I imagine she'll be busy until they catch the guy."

Rick was surprised that Kate hadn't mentioned it to her dad. Being her first case as a detective, he thought it was a big deal and something she would want to share but, maybe she just hadn't found any time, or she didn't want to worry him. He let it go for now, but he would ask her about it when they spoke later. He didn't know when they would speak but she had promised to call every day when she finished work, so he knew he would be talking to her at some point.

"Right," Jim said. He hadn't heard from Katie for a couple of days so he wasn't aware that she was now working a case, but it wasn't like they spoke every day before, so he didn't expect her to tell him everything now. He knew she would tell him when it mattered. "Okay, well I'll definitely be there. And another question, would you like me to bring anything?"

"Just yourself would be great Jim. I think we'll have everything else sorted."

"Great"

"So, how did your AA meeting go last night?" Rick asked, which was really the reason for the call in the first place.

"It was good. I met some great people, heard some great testimonies. It was a constant reminder that I'm not alone in this. I have a sponsor now so it should be good. We meet up again next Tuesday."

"So, did you share anything yourself?"

"Uh, no, not this time around."

"Do you think you will?"

"When the time is right. At the moment I just want to get to know the guys. I noticed that some of them had family members with them, so I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to take Katie along with me."

"I think that'll be a great idea. I believe that it's important that the family knows what you're dealing with and how you are dealing with it."

"Yeah. And so how are you doing Rick? Still going strong?"

"I am."

"That's good to hear. I almost feel like we spend more time talking about me, than we do talking about you. You'd let me know if something was wrong?"

"Yeah," Rick said.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to feel like you couldn't talk to me and then find that Kate had to deal with it if you relapsed. Not that I expect you will, but you know what they say, around 80% of people will relapse, I just hope that we are not those people."

"Jim, you're a good man, and you have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't want to put that pressure on Kate either."

"Great, well it's been great talking to you as always Rick. I'll see you tomorrow for dinner."

When Rick hung up he still hadn't heard from Kate so he decided he might as well go and make himself some lunch, knowing for sure that he would be eating lunch alone again. He knew Kate would most likely be busy all day but he had hoped she might be able to squeeze a short lunch break in since their lunch the previous day had been cut short.

He left his office to find something in the kitchen for lunch and when he returned 30 minutes later, he saw his phone light up on his desk.

When he reached the phone he was surprised and overjoyed at the same time to see that it was Kate again.

_"Long day again. I'll call you when I get home as promised."_

It didn't say much, but it was enough. It told Rick that she was still thinking of him, and he thought it was kind of sweet. Knowing she was obviously busy, he stopped himself from responding, he didn't want to be a distraction.

* * *

Blythe and Beckett had been working all morning following up leads and once again, Kate felt like she didn't even have a moment to use the bathroom. Rick was always popping into her mind though as she worked. The note he had left her that morning apparently doing exactly what she expected Rick had hoped it would do. If she felt she was beginning to doubt her abilities, she thought about that note and the confidence that Rick had for her and it lifted her spirits again. It happened more than she had hoped but she had to remember it was her first case. She was sure that in time, her belief in herself would begin to grow and she would need those words from him less. Right now though, they were exactly what she needed.

Sometime just after 1pm, they had done all they could and were waiting on a couple of uniformed cops to come back to themwith some details. Knowing it was going to be at least a 30 minute wait, Blythe told Beckett to go get some lunch.

Kate quickly contacted Lanie to see if she was still free, and they arranged to have a very brief lunch break together.

They had agreed to meet at a small burger joint across the road from the precinct, and Kate was there first. As she waited, she decided to quickly text Rick. It was a brief message just to let him know it would probably be late before she got home, but she also just wanted him to know that she was thinking of him.

It was only a few seconds after the message sent when Lanie joined her at the table.

"So how NYPD's newest detective going?" Lanie asked once they had ordered a couple of sandwiches and milkshakes.

"Good. It's hard work, but knowing that I'm helping get dangerous people off the streets makes it worth it," she said before proceeding to yawn.

"You work a late one last night?"

"Yeah, didn't get home til after one this morning."

"Well, you might want to get used to that. Some of the detectives here work extremely crazy hours."

"It comes with the job," Kate said. "I've done a fair few crazy shifts myself. I guess the difference is that when I was a uniform cop it was on a roster, now it's going to depend on the case I'm working on."

Lanie nodded, she knew exactly what it was like. Sometimes as a medical examiner she was working late hours and early mornings too.

"How are hours for you?" Kate asked, wanting to know more about how the medical examiners worked.

"Pretty much the same. If we get a new case, no matter how late in the day it is or how many hours we've already worked that day, we have to stick with it and run certain tests right away. So, I don't always get home at a reasonable time."

"But it's worth it right?"

"Oh, yeah, of course it is. It's like you said, I'm helping get criminals off the street. I think it's the unexpected calls that are the hardest part. If I'm on call I just never know if my phone is going to ring or not, and sometimes, it can be at the most inconvenient time. I've been out on dates and have had to leave to go to a crime scene. Turning up to a crime scene in a short dress and showing a little more cleavage than usual does not always go too well," Lanie said seriously. "The guys will tease me for weeks."

Kate laughed. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"Then there's also the times where you've just finished a case, or paperwork and you finally sit down to relax for lunch when the phone rings."

"I've experienced that one already. Lunch yesterday with Rick, I didn't actually get to eat anything. I grabbed a few fries off my plate, but that was it."

"Rick? Is that your man?"

Kate could have slapped herself. She hadn't actually meant to mention Rick at all, but she was unable to undo what she had already spoken.

"Uh yeah," she said blushing.

"What did he say when you had to leave?"

"He was very understanding." She had this small smile that Lanie read to be the smile of a woman in love. "He did look upset which made me feel bad but we knew it would be a possibility, and it's bound to happen again and many more times. I'm sure he'll get used to it," she finished.

"Yeah, or get sick of it," Lanie responded without thinking.

"You think?"

"Oh, um, well, I don't know Rick so I can't say that he will, but there have been a few guys that I've dated that just couldn't deal with the constant interruptions."

"Oh," Kate said deflated.

"But hey, if you guys have been together for a while, then I'm sure you'll be fine. How long has it been?"

"Uh, not very long. We've known each other for just over a month and spent a lot of time together over the past couple of weeks but we weren't really dating until a week or so ago."

"Oh," Lanie said wishing she had shut her mouth before putting her foot in it. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. You said he was very understanding, so you've got nothing to worry about."

The waitress came over with their sandwiches and they both began to eat. Lanie could see the things she had said had already started to worry Kate. She didn't mean to do it, sometimes she just didn't know when to keep quiet.

As Kate ate silently, she could see Lanie was trying to think of something to say but struggled. Kate's mind just kept replaying what Lanie had said. Would Rick get sick of interruptions when they were spending time together?

After a few moments of eating in silence, Lanie couldn't take it anymore. She was a talker, and so she was going to talk. She didn't know Kate well but she knew the last thing she needed was doubts going through her mind about her new relationship. She didn't know this Rick fellow, but when Kate had mentioned him previously she got this look on her face that Lanie had not been able to forget. It was the look of a woman in love, and she didn't want to be the one to ruin that.

"Girl, have you ever heard of foot in mouth disease?" Lanie asked, snatching Kate's attention.

"Yeah," Kate said, but kept her head down looking at the food in front of her.

"It appears that I have it. I've been battling with it for years, but sometimes, it wins, and I do believe it won again today."

Kate looked up questioningly.

"I didn't mean to make you doubt your man. Rick, was it?"

"Yeah, Rick"

"Well, I've never seen anyone smile the way you do when they have mentioned a guy before, so I believe what you have must be special and you should ignore everything else that I've said today."

Kate wasn't sure she could ignore or forget what Lanie had said but she tried to force a smile on her face. "Thanks Lanie."

They went back to talking about Lanie's job and what exactly it was a medical examiner does while they finished their sandwiches and soon were heading back to their jobs.

* * *

When there were no more leads they could follow up until the morning, Kate was sent home. It was a slightly earlier night than the previous one, which she was glad about. It meant she was going to be able to get a few extra hours sleep.

She had been surprised and just how much she had actually missed Rick during the day. The only communication they had was the couple of text messages and she couldn't wait to call him, just to hear his voice.

Even though she knew he would be just as anxiously awaiting her call as she was waiting to call him, she decided to shower first. Then she'd be able to climb into bed and talk to him there until she fell asleep.

She showered probably faster than she had ever showered before, in and out. She had quickly washed her hair, then blasted it with the blow dryer for a few minutes to take the wetness out before going to bed. She found herself dialling Rick's number, within fifteen minutes of arriving home.

"My detectives home again," Rick answered with excitement.

"Yeah, she is." It was unlike Kate to not complain when Rick had said she was 'his' detective. It wasn't the first time he'd said something like that, like she belonged to him, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. Possessiveness used to bother her, but with Rick, it didn't. She liked knowing that she was his.

"How was work?" he asked.

"Busy, I had a brief lunch with Lanie today."

"Lanie?"

"Yeah, you know the medical examiner I mentioned?"

"Oh yeah, I think I remember, you said she was friendly and talkative."

"Yeah, that's the one."

"So, did you talk about me?" Rick said cheekily.

"Ahhhh Castle, it was a talk between women. And it's a well known rule that our talk stays between us," she teased.

"Well that's not fair. How about we trade information. I'll tell you about my conversation with Alexis, and you tell me about your conversation with Lanie?"

"I don't think so. You're talk with Alexis is a completely different level of conversation."

Kate really didn't want to discuss what Lanie had said with Rick. She didn't want to put a downer on their conversation.

"Fine," Rick said with a huff, but Kate could hear the smile behind it, and knew he was just kidding around.

"So, what about you? Anything exciting happen today?"

"I got some writing done, organised a meeting with my publisher, that's really about it. Oh, and I spoke to your dad. He didn't know you were working on a case."

"No, I haven't spoken to him in a few days."

"Why not? I thought you'd want to tell him things like that. This is your first case as a detective."

"Yeah, I know. I just I don't want to worry him."

"You know what, I think he'd be more worried not knowing what you're up to and I think it'll help him if you let him know more about what was happening."

"Help him how?"

"Well, when you share about the things going on in your life, he'll share more about his. I think it'll be good for the two of you, to open up more to each other."

Kate thought about what Rick was saying. Her and her father had become very open with each other while they were in the Hamptons and were talking every day, mostly because they were together every day, but she had enjoyed that closeness with her father. Since coming back to the city, they hadn't really spoken. Maybe Rick was right, maybe she needed to put more effort into talk to her father, and telling him what was going on. She didn't want to lose the trust that she had rebuilt with him over the past few weeks.

"You're right. Thanks Rick. I'll make sure I call him tomorrow."

When she said she'd call her father, Rick guessed that meant she expected to be working late again. "So, you wont be making it to dinner?"

"Oh, um, I'm not sure yet," Kate said quickly. "I almost forgot about dinner. I guess it depends on how the case is going and if I have things to follow up, but I do hope to get there. It'd be nice to get to see you again, and everyone else too."

"Okay, we'll make sure we have a place for you just in case you can make it."

"Great"

"I should probably let you sleep now," Rick said softly. "You have had a busy two days, you probably need all the sleep you can get."

"I am pretty tired, but I'd love for you to stay on the line with me again."

"You know, you could just come around here after work some nights," Rick said hopeful. "Then we wouldn't have to do this, staying on the line. I could hold you in my arms and we could snuggle together."

"As good as that sounds, I'm not sure that'll be a good idea when I'm working on a case. I need to make sure I get my sleep."

"I would let you sleep, I promise."

"Yeah?"

"Of course."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see."

She liked the idea of snuggling in bed again with Rick. She'd missed going to sleep in his arms. This was the fifth day without them around her as she slept. Soon, she thought to herself. She could lie in his arms again soon. Once the case is finished, when she knows she can stay in his embrace for a long time without being disturbed.

* * *

_**Well... I don't really have much to say about that chapter. I felt like I needed to add a little bit of Jim in there again. I can't forget about these other characters :) so we might see them from time to time. **_

_**Hillsong Conference is over for the week. I am soooooo exhausted, physically and emotionally, these weeks are always crazy! And now I think I'm going to sleep for the next 12 hours straight. **_

_**I'm still ahead in my writing which is great. I hope to have some more done over the weekend and get a little further ahead. **_

_**Once again, thank you to all you people who read and review... you're all amazing!**_


	33. Chapter 33

Kate had worked another long day at the precinct, sitting in on numerous interrogations. She'd enjoyed watching people squirm. It had been quite entertaining. She couldn't wait for her turn but she knew she probably had to watch or sit in on a few before they let her take the lead.

The entire day she was looking at her watch hoping she would be able to make it to dinner, but by 6:30pm, they still hadn't solved the case, and they were still waiting on information to come through from a few different guys. She was sitting at her desk filling out a report when Detective Blythe told her to go home and get an early night.

"Just keep your phone on and nearby. If we find anything tonight, we'll contact you. There's not much more we can do without further results from the lab though," he had said.

Kate did her best not to look too excited. She loved her job, but she also loved spending time with Rick, his family and also her father. Leaving now meant she'd be able to make it to dinner.

"If you're sure there's nothing else for me to do here," she said.

"I'm sure. The captain would like to see you briefly however before you leave."

"Ok, thanks. I'll go see him now."

Kate quickly walked over to her captain's office. He was sitting at his desk and his door was open. When he heard her, he lifted his head and waved her through.

"Detective Beckett, I just wanted to check in with you. How are things going?"

"Great. I'm learning a lot."

"And Detective Blythe?"

"He's really good at his job. I can understand why you put me with him now."

Captain Montgomery laughed. "Good. He's one of our best, but I have high hopes for you too. I've been watching you since you first starting working here as a uniform, and you were destined to be a detective."

"Thank you sir"

"And how is your mothers case going?"

"Um, sorry sir, my mothers case? We're not working on that."

"I know that, but I also know you've been trying to solve that one since you set foot in this place, and now as a detective you have more resources. I know you have been very busy over the past few days, I just want to make sure you know where your focus needs to be."

"I can assure you my focus is on the case at hand. I haven't looked at anything to do with my mothers case since getting back."

Even Kate had surprised herself with that admission. She hadn't been back for long but before she went away every spare minute she had she was thinking about her mothers case. Not a day would go by when she didn't try to find something that cops had missed. Now, she had been back in the city for almost a week, and had been back at work for four days and she hadn't even thought about it once. She almost couldn't believe it.

She realised that for the past five years she had lived under the control of her mothers killer and she hadn't realised until now. That killer had controlled her life, everything she did was to try and find him, but now, she was no longer going to let him control her. She would get the answers, but she knew there was a way to live without them. The smile on her face grew wider as she thought about the people who have helped her find her life again. Her father who was finally getting his own life back on track showed her that it was possible to continue living life without the answers. Alexis showed her that she didn't have to give up having fun to be grown up, she was still young but she knew when to be serious and when to have fun. Martha, she was a little different, Kate wasn't sure she had learnt anything specific from her, but she knew she could trust Martha to cheer her on and give encouragement when she needed it. And then there was Rick, her Rick. He showed her love, a love that she didn't even know was possible for her. He'd broken down her walls, and she had a feeling he was the biggest reason for her not feeling like she needed the answers right away. Those walls were what had stopped her from living, with them breaking down all she wanted to do was live.

Captain Montgomery watched Beckett in silence for a moment, as the smile on her face slowly grew wider. He could see she was deep in thought, and he didn't want to disturb her. He'd always liked Beckett, knew she would be a wonderful asset to his team but he had been worried about her. Had watched in previous years as she searched without success for her mother's killer but something told him, right at that moment, that something had changed. She looked almost happy, and it was a true happiness, not the mask that he had continually seen. Obviously, something had happened on her vacation time.

"You haven't looked at it at all?" he said after a moment, snapping her away from her thoughts.

"I've only been back four days."

"That wouldn't have stopped you before," he said matter-of-factly. "You were in that filing room the first day you knew about it. Beckett, you are going to be a brilliant detective, and I want you to know, when the time is right, we will open up your mothers case again and we _will _solve it."

Kate nodded.

"And detective, keep living life. Whatever you found on your vacation time, don't let that go."

"I'll do my best sir."

"Well, that's all. I guess I shall see you tomorrow."

Kate stood up and went back to her desk quickly grabbing her things and made her way out of the precinct. It was getting closer to 7pm, she hadn't contacted Rick all day so he had no idea if she was going to make it to the loft for dinner or not, but stopping to call or send him a text now was just going to slow her down and she just wanted to get to him as soon as possible.

* * *

Kate arrived at the loft sooner than she had expected, and found a place to park fairly close to the building entrance. She was actually excited to see the look on Ricks face when she turned up. He probably wasn't really expecting her to be joining them, but she was glad that she could.

When entered the building she greeted the doorman with a smile. Reading his name badge, she could see his name was Tony.

"Good evening Tony," she said.

"Evening miss, can I help you? Are you here to see someone?"

"Yes, actually I'm here to see Richard Castle."

"Would you like me to let him know you are coming?"

Kate thought about it quickly but she wanted to surprise him at the door. "Uh, actually, no. I'd rather surprise him. Do you know what floor his loft is on?"

"I'm sorry miss, I can't tell you that information without first confirming it is okay with Mr Castle."

Kate was a little irritated at first, she just wanted to get up to his loft but then it suddenly dawned on Kate that people may often come looking for Rick when they don't actually know who he was and Tony was doing his job.

"Oh, Mr Castle knows me. He's expecting me, I think," she said. She was going to try and convince him that it was okay to let her through but then she thought about her own job. And although it was completely different to his, she knew that there were rules to follow for a reason. "Actually, maybe you should let him know I'm here," she said with a smile. Her other option was to pull out her badge, but she didn't like to abuse power like that.

"Who should I say is here?"

"Uh, Kate… it's Kate Beckett."

"Oh, Miss Beckett? You should have said that earlier. Of course you can go up. Mr Castle is on level 4."

Kate was a little surprised at the sudden change in Tony. He knew about her? Had Castle been talking to the doorman about her? She found that to be a little strange, but sweet at the same time.

"Thanks Tony."

"Miss Beckett?" Tony called out as she made her way to the elevator.

"Yes?" she turned back to face him.

"That Mr. Castle, he's a good man. He'll look after you."

"Yeah, I know," Kate said with a smile. She wasn't sure why Tony had said it, but the look on his face told her that he meant what he said.

* * *

Jim had arrived at the loft a little before 7pm and had been talking to Rick while he finished up making dinner.

"Will Katie be joining us?" Jim asked.

"Uh, I'm still not sure. I haven't heard from her since this morning so I think not. She must be caught up at work still."

"That's a shame," Jim said.

"Yeah, it is, but we knew she possibly wasn't going to be able to make some of our dinners."

Alexis came down a moment later knowing it was her job to set the table. Just as she had got to the kitchen, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey dad, did you want me to get the door?"

"It's okay pumpkin," Rick said already making his way to the door. "I'll get it, you start setting the table." As he passed her he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Silently, he hoped that the person at the door was Kate, although he really didn't expect it to be. Surely she would have messaged to let him know she was coming. He did say to her he would have a place set out for her just in case though, so it's possible it was her.

He opened the door quickly and standing there in front of him, was Kate, with a huge smile on her face.

"I made it," she said.

Rick immediately grabbed her hand, pulled her inside with a spin, closed the door behind them and took her in his arms placing a kiss to her lips all in one swift movement.

"You made it," he said when they parted, and kissed her again taking his time to show her how much he missed her over the past couple of days.

Kate opened her mouth to him, forgetting that there were probably others in the house. Her arms snaked around his neck and were running through his hair, while his were wrapped around her back pulling her closer. They remained there, getting lost in each and other enjoying each other until a voice snapped them out of it.

"Hey dad, who was at the, ewwwwwwww, dad!"

Alexis had finished setting the table and came back to the door to see what was taking her dad so long, only to find him locking lips with Kate.

Kate and Rick pulled back from each other and apologised to Alexis.

"Hey dad," Alexis started, once they'd finished apologising. "You know I love you and your enthusiasm to try new things, but I'm not sure that shade of lipstick works for you," she said laughing. "Hi Kate," she added with a grin and a little wave before turning away and walking back from where she came.

"Hi Alexis," Kate returned. She then turned to look at Rick for the first time since they'd pulled apart and starting laughing herself. Her lipstick had smudged pretty badly on his lips and Alexis was right, it really wasn't a good shade for him. She lifted her thumb to his lips, began to wipe away the smudged lipstick and couldn't stop the little giggles that came from her as she did.

"What are you laughing at Kate?" he asked when she finished. "You should really consider buying some smudge proof lipstick, I'm sure I look no worse that you do."

Kate's eyes widened in shock, and she lifted her hand to her mouth. When she had gone to put on her lipstick she had just reached into the bottom of her bag without really looking at what she had pulled out before putting it on. Obviously she had pulled out the wrong one.

"Mind if I use the bathroom?"

"Follow me," he said taking her hand pulling her into a nearby door.

They walked through a bedroom which Kate guessed was Ricks and she wanted to spend some more time looking around. She believed she could learn a lot about a man by looking in his bedroom, but Rick continued to lead her through to his bathroom. Rick washed away what was left of the smudged lipstick on his face while Kate fixed up her own.

"I've missed you," Rick said finally, moving to stand behind her and gently kissing her neck. "I'm glad you could make it tonight."

Kate smiled at him via the mirror in response. As she did she took a look at them together, Rick now resting his arms around her stomach and his chin on her shoulder. She couldn't help but think they looked great together and fitted perfectly.

"You didn't have any problems getting here?" Rick asked.

"No, but your doorman is an interesting fellow. He seemed to know me, well once I told him my name he did. Before that he I wasn't sure he was going to let me come up."

Rick laughed. "Tony?"

Kate nodded.

"He's a good guy. We've had a couple of crazies here before, so he looks out for me."

"More people wanting you to sign their chests?" she said turning in his arms and resting her hands behind his back.

"It's only happened once or twice, people follow me after book signings. Tony is a good guy though."

"He said the same thing of you. He also said you'd look after me, like he knew from experience."

"Uh, yeah, Tony's mother is ill. I've helped him out from time to time, it's nothing really."

"Rick, I think that means a lot more to Tony than you realise. It's great what you do, and that you do it without showing off about it. You don't do it for yourself, you always make sure other people's needs are met. I've seen you do it multiple times and it's sweet. It's one of the things that I love about you, and now that I know it's not just family you do it for, I think I love you just that little bit more."

Rick leant down and kissed her briefly. "We should get out there before Alexis comes looking for us again."

When they reached the dining area dinner was already on the table waiting for everyone to dig in and help themselves.

They were all sitting down and just about to start putting food on plates when Kate's phone rang. It was the precinct so she knew she had to get it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe before excusing herself to take the call. A few minutes later she came back and announced she had to go back to work.

"But you just got here?" Alexis said saddened.

"I know. I'm sorry Alexis but work needs me." Kate walked behind the seat where Alexis was sitting, placed her hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you another time though, I promise."

"It was good seeing you Katie, brief as it was," her dad said as hugged him. She hadn't really even said hello to her father and now she was leaving again.

Martha also got up from her chair and also hugged Kate before Rick walked her out.

"Do you know how long you'll be needed for?" Rick asked as they reached the door.

"No, they didn't say. But I'll call you when I get home like I promised."

"Want to come back here?" Rick asked. He just wanted to spend some more time with her.

"We'll see what time I get back out again."

She could see the disappointment growing on his face, and Lanie's words from the previous day repeated in her head. They hadn't even made it through one week and already work had called twice just as they were just getting settled to eat. She hoped Rick would stick by her, and wouldn't get annoyed with the interruptions.

She reached up and ran fingers over his cheek and behind his ear, resting them there for a moment. "I'm sorry Rick. If this wasn't important I'd stay."

"I know," he said as he closed his eyes.

"We knew things were going to be hard," Kate reminded him.

"Yeah," he sighed and opened his eyes again. "We can do this," he said finally allowing a smile back on his face.

"I'll call you as soon as I can. You go enjoy dinner."

Kate allowed Rick to open the door and she walked down the hall to the elevator. She pressed the down button and turned back to Rick to find him still watching her with half a smile on his face but a sadness in his eyes.

"I love you," he said just loudly enough for her to hear, and then the elevator beeped behind her and she stepped in.

"Love you too," she responded before the doors closed and she was heading back to the precinct.

* * *

_**Don't worry, they will get some time alone soon.. I'm working on it!**_

_**Also, to those worried about how I'm writing this and the fact that there has been a chapter of the story dedicated to each day, don't worry but it wont continue like that. I just felt like it needed it for the first week to set the city stuff up. I'm hoping to be able to speed time up a little from now on... it kinda just depends what my fingers do.**_

_**And now, random information... I've been watching High School Musical (1, 2 & 3) today. Yes, I am totally cool! haha... and you know not having a voice to sing along kinda sucks. :(**_


	34. Chapter 34

Kate never made it back to Rick's house on Thursday night. They'd had a break in the case and were working on it again for hours and in the early hours of the morning, she was finally going home.

Friday had been extremely busy also, and she'd barely had a moment to herself. She hoped not all cases would be as busy. Detective Blythe had informed her that this one was unusual and the problem was that everyone they spoke to seemed to send them on a wild goose chase. Whenever they were given some new information, it sent them searching in another completely different direction, only to get to another dead end. They just had to find missing link. When Saturday morning came around, Kate had a feeling they may have finally been getting somewhere.

She had agreed to let Rick visit the station on Saturday morning since they had barely spent any time together during the week. She told him she wasn't sure how much time she'd have to spend with him, if any, but she really did want to see him, and seeing him for even a short moment would be better than nothing.

Rick arrived at the precinct and waited at the front desk while they called up to Kate.

When Kate emerged from the elevator a few minutes later, she was happy to see that Rick had brought coffee with him. The precinct coffee was drinkable but it was far from good, and she felt desperately in need of a good coffee.

Rick noticed her immediately and sent a smile in her direction. Standing up from his chair, he made his way towards her at the elevator. Handing Kate her coffee, he deliberately took his time and slid his fingers along hers. He knew that would probably be all the physical contact he would get while they were at the precinct, so he wanted to make it last. He got quite a surprise when Kate stood close and briefly kissed him without even bothering to look to see who was around first.

Kate knew she had to stay professional at work, but when she saw Rick she couldn't stop herself from kissing him. He just looked so happy to see her. She was surprised that he didn't try and kiss her back or deepen the kiss. She was even a little disappointed, although she knew she probably would have stopped him if he had tried anything. Brief was okay, she decided. She could deal with a brief kiss in front of the other cops. When she looked up at him he looked a little shocked and she let out a small laugh. "The look on your face right now is priceless," she said.

"I, uh, you, I thought," he said unable to form words. "On Tuesday you said," he paused, "I thought you wanted to look professional around your colleagues."

Well, that explained to Kate why Rick hadn't tried anything. She was actually quite proud of him for not only remembering what she'd said but for sticking by it even when she wasn't. After a week of very little contact, she had begun to not care what others thought about her and her relationship status.

"Well since then I've barely seen you. I know I saw you Thursday but it was cut short, and I missed you. I'm beginning to think I need to reconsider my own ru…"

She was cut off when Rick's lips found hers again. He was careful not to go too far with it, but the truth was, he had missed her too. Knowing that she was okay with the contact at that moment, he was going to take his chance while he could.

"I missed you too," he said as he pulled back.

"C'mon, let me show you my department," she said walking over to the elevator.

Rick followed closely behind, into the elevator and up to the homicide floor. While in the elevator Kate took Rick's hand in her own and gently squeezed it. "Thank you for coming this morning," she said. "This case has been crazy. I knew I'd be busy, but I didn't think it would be like this. All this running around, the late nights and early mornings. It's hard."

"You'll get used to it."

"Yeah, I know, but it'll take time," she said looking up at him. "What if this is all we have? Brief moments together and then I get called away?"

Rick could hear concern and sadness in his voice. He could sense that she was worried about them, about making their relationship work. "If this is all we have for now, then this is all we have and we'll make it work. This is your first case, I'm sure it wont be like this constantly. Let's not worry about that right now."

"Okay."

She didn't sound convinced, there was still a slight look of anxiety on her face.

"And Kate," Rick said. "I'm not going anywhere," he finished while squeezing her hand still joined with his.

And just those few words were all it took for the smile to reappear on her face just as the elevator doors were opening. Kate let go of their joined hands and led Rick out and into the bullpen.

"I have to go into an interrogation soon, we're just waiting on a couple of uniforms who are bringing in a suspect. I have a couple of free minutes until then," Kate said walking over to her desk.

"Oh, an interrogation, that sounds fun," Rick said with excitement.

"Ah, yeah, sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. It depends who you've got in the box with you. Detective Blythe is very good with the people who are very uncooperative, which is almost everyone in our curent case."

"Oh, is he around? Will he be in the interrogation with you?"

Kate looked around the bullpen and spotted Blythe talking to another of the detectives.

"Yeah, he'll be in control of the interrogation. At the moment, I am mostly there to observe. That's him over there," she said pointing towards Blythe. "I haven't been able to talk to him about meeting you. I thought I'd wait until after the case."

"That's okay. I understand," Rick said with a smile. He noticed Detective Blythe looked just the way Kate had explained. Rather steely and slightly scary. "He looks tough, but definitely not ruggedly handsome like some other people I know," he said with confidence and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Kate laughed. "No, definitely not," she said rolling her eyes.

Rick asked a few general questions about how the interrogations worked and what took place in her department, and as they spoke they failed to notice Blythe making his way over to them.

"Detective Beckett?" Blythe said, now standing next to the couple.

Kate looked away from Castle and up at the senior detective. "Yes Detective?"

"I want to make sure you are aware that while we allow civilians to visit, we are unable to share specific information about our cases with them unless they are working with us."

Kate nodded. "I am aware of that. No detailed case knowledge is to be shared."

"Good. And if you ever have guests coming to visit, you can let me know. I know I am not always the easiest person to approach but if you need a short break, then please don't hesitate to ask. In cases like these, it can be difficult to get any personal time, and I understand sometimes we need it."

Once again Kate nodded. It seemed Detective Blythe did have a slightly softer side that she was beginning to see. She had been doing a little bit of asking around at the station when she'd a chance, and found out that he had once been married but his wife died of cancer only a few years into their marriage. They never had kids and he now lived alone and never found anyone else to love after his wife passed. Now, it was like he was just married to his job. Knowing this about him had made him a little easier to understand. His job was all he had. She had come to believe he was probably once a very romantic man, but had lost that when he lost his wife. Only now was she realising however, that this is what her dad could have been like if they'd never met Rick at rehab. It was how she could have ended up if she let her mother's death run her life. She'd never really been a big believer in fate, but the more she thought about the events of the past month, the more she started to believe that meeting Rick was, in fact, fate.

When Blythe was happy that Beckett understood what he was saying, he turned his attention to Rick. "Am I right in believing that you are Richard Castle?"

Rick looked at the man in front of him surprised and unsure how it was he knew who he was. He would have been happy if the detective recognised him because he was a fan of his books, but he would have been just as happy if he wasn't a fan but Kate had been talking about him.

"Uh, yes, that would be me," Rick said extending his hand to the man. "You must be Detective Blythe."

Blythe nodded as he took Ricks hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." he said.

"You too," Rick responded.

"So, are you here researching?" Blythe asked.

"Uh, no not exactly. I'm visiting."

"Well, Mr Castle, I'm sorry to be the one to cut your visit short. I'm afraid Detective Beckett and I have an interrogation to get to. Although, if you'd like to stay and we get an okay from the captain I'm sure you should be able to watch from the observation room. You might just get some interesting insight for your books while you're here."

"Uh, that would be great Detective, but I thought that would be against policy. You just mentioned something about not sharing specific case details."

"Yes, I did. We'll just need you to sign something and then it should be fine."

"Uh, okay, I can do that. If that's okay with Detective Beckett," he said turning his attention back to. He wanted to be supportive but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable and he wasn't sure how she would feel if he was there watching.

Kate was surprised Rick didn't just jump at the opportunity. She knew it would be great for his books but he was still putting her own comfort above his career. Standing up from her chair she placed her hand on his arm. "Let's go see the captain, and take you to the observation room."

Captain Montgomery was more than happy to allow Rick to watch from the observation room. So once Rick signed a form he was shown into the observation room and the two detectives went into the interrogation room where their suspect was now waiting.

Blythe and Beckett had barely even started the interrogation when a couple of other detectives joined Rick in the observation room. It was like they hadn't even noticed Rick was in the room as they continued their conversation without so much as a glance in his direction.

"I can't wait to see this new detective in action," said one guy to the other.

"Me either. I've heard great reports about this one. Detective Beckett isn't it?"

Rick stood silently, beginning to feel extremely proud of Kate. It seemed like these guys had come in to watch her at work and it was obvious her hard work hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Yeah, that's the one, the new female detective on Blythe's team. She's worked in the department for a while. I've worked on a couple of cases with her while she was still a uniform and can I just say, she definitely knows how to turn heads."

"Oh, I've noticed. Smokin' hot body!"

That wasn't what Rick had expected and he realised that the guys may not have come into the observation room for the reason he had thought.

"And, working in this line of work, you know she's gotta be strong and dominating."

"I wouldn't mind if she dominated me, if you know what I mean," one said, slapping the other on the back, and Rick knew he had to stop their conversation. It was completely inappropriate and disrespectful to Kate. He wasn't going to sit back and listen to them talk about his girlfriend in that way.

"Seriously?" he said, getting the attention of the two detectives. "How about you show Detective Beckett some respect, she's a cop just like you. How would you like it if you were a woman in a predominantly male work force and had to deal with creeps like you?"

"Uh, sorry," one said sarcastically. "And who are you? Should you even be in here?"

"I am the one currently dating detective Beckett, and yes, I have permission to be here."

He wasn't exactly sure how he expected the guys to respond, but he hoped that if they knew she was dating, it would shut them up. Unfortunately, it didn't.

"Oh, so you're the guy she dominates every night then," one said, receiving a high five from the other.

"I do believe that is none of your business," Rick said starting to feel angry.

"Sounds like he's not getting any," the detective laughed.

Rick could feel his anger rising as his hands tightened into fists beside him. He knew it would only end badly if he remained in the room. He wanted to knock some sense into the two men but punching two cops in their precinct was definitely not a good idea, so he simply walked out and let the door slam behind him.

When Kate had finished in the interrogation room, she immediately looked around for Rick. While in the interrogation room she'd heard a door slam and had a feeling it may have had something to do with him, although she hoped it didn't. She first looked in the observation but only found two other detectives who gave her a look she couldn't really figure out. She had more important things to worry about though, so she just left them. Rick didn't look like he was anywhere in the bullpen but she eventually spotted him. She was surprised when she found him sitting in with the captain once again. Noticing that they looked like they were deep in conversation, she didn't want to interrupt them so she decided she would do the job Detective Blythe had given her. She would find out what had happened later.

About ten minutes later Rick was making his way out of the captains office and over to Kate's desk. When he saw the great smile on Kate's face, any anger he still felt from his earlier experience with the other detectives slowly melted away. It was amazing how just seeing her could do that to him.

"What's got you so happy?" he asked as he reached her.

"We just got a confession," she said, "which means, as long as everything makes sense, we just closed a case."

"Really? And I missed it?"

"It looks like it. What happened? What did you need to talk to the captain about?"

"It was nothing you need to worry about," he said not wanting to concern her.

He had spoken to the captain about what he had heard in the observation room, and the captain had promised he would speak to all the men on the team to ensure they were professional and to treat the women with respect. Rick trusted that he would do as he said and he had hoped that it would all happen without Kate knowing.

"C'mon Rick? What was it?"

"Just some things I heard a couple of other detectives say. Really, it's nothing. The captain has it sorted."

"What was said? Was it you who slammed a door earlier?"

"Yeah, that was me. Sorry, I was a little angry, but really you don't need to worry about it anymore."

"What do you mean? What made you angry? Don't start keeping secrets from me. You know when secrets are kept, someone always gets hurt," she said seriously.

"They just said some things about you, that were disrespectful. Let's not talk about it now. Tell me about this confession."

Kate let it go and turned her chair to face him. She wanted to know what had been said, but she would find out later. Maybe the bullpen wasn't the best place to talk about it. She did as Rick had wished and told him as much as she could about the confession knowing that he obviously hadn't heard much.

"Wanna know the best thing about it?" she asked when she had given him all the details.

"What's that?" Rick asked stepping closer to her chair.

"It means that as long as we get the paper work finished and everything fits in place, I have a day off tomorrow."

"Really?" He placed his hands on the arms of her chair and leant over her as she sat back in her chair.

"Yeah," she bit her bottom lip and looked up at him. "So, I was hoping to spend the day with you."

"Really?"

Kate laughed. "Yes really."

"You know I would love that," Rick said smiling. "Maybe I should leave you to get that paper work done then." He pressed a chaste lips to her lips then stood back up.

"You don't have to go," Kate said grabbing his arm.

"Oh, I do, because if I stay I'll slow you down, and then you wont be able to join me for dinner tonight."

"Dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, do you think you could be out of here in time?"

"I think I can try."

"Great. I'll pick you up at 7pm," he said with a wink.

Kate smiled. "I'll see you then."

Rick took one of Kate's hands in his own and lifted it to his lips gently kissing the back of it. "See you then."

* * *

_**One dinner date coming up! YAY!**_**_ I totally just started singing the 'Chicken tonight' song. Does anyone know what that is? "I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight. CHICKEN TONIGHT!" If not you're totally missing out. I wonder if Kate and Rick will eat chicken for dinner... we'll have to wait and see. _**

**_I better get writing again! Some chapters come easier than others, hopefully the next few will be easy ones. Actually you know the ones that I find easiest to write are the ones where they are arguing or something like that... and I don't like to have too many of them because I don't like them arguing haha. _**

**_Also... my feet are cold and my back is sore. Anybody want to come and keep my feet warm and give me a back massage while I write? :) _**


	35. Chapter 35

Kate arrived home with a couple of hours to spare before Rick was due to pick her up. She had no idea what to expect of their night. Rick had said dinner, and she guessed that because he was picking her up that meant he was taking her out. She knew he had money so, he'd probably be taking her to a fancy restaurant, but then again, usually you had to book a table months in advance for those, so she couldn't be sure. Not knowing exactly what to expect made it difficult to decide what to wear.

In the end she realised that it probably wouldn't matter what she wore, they should be happy just to be spending time with each other finally. Even so, it was their first night out together and in the end, she wanted to look good. She chose a short, deep red cocktail dress with one strap. It showed off her curves and her legs perfectly, and she had a feeling Rick wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her.

She took one last look at herself in the mirror when she heard a knock on the door a few minutes before 7pm. Happy with her accessories and how she had done her hair and makeup she answered the door feeling confident about the night ahead.

Rick stood nervously outside Kate's apartment dressed in one of his best tuxedos. He wasn't really sure why he felt so nervous, it wasn't like it was their first time alone, but there was something that felt different about their date. He'd spent most of the day making calls and making arrangements for the night, and the rest of the day stressing over what to wear. At times he though he was being ridiculous, but he wanted to look perfect. He'd chosen a black tux, with a white shirt and a deep red tie, simply because he thought the red stood out and he needed a little touch of colour. When Kate opened the door and stood before him in her red cocktail dress he couldn't have been happier about his choice. They matched perfectly. It was like they had an undeniable connection and he felt like it was another sign that they were meant to be.

"You look stunning," Rick said after a moment of just staring at the woman standing before him, taking her in.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Kate responded taking a step towards him running her hands down the lapel of his coat jacket.

Rick took one of Kate's hand from his chest, and held it in his own while he gently placed a kiss on her cheek. He then stepped back again to take another look at what stood in front of him.

"Seriously, wow!" he said spinning her around under his arm.

"I'm glad you like it," Kate said blushing.

"Like it? I love it! It's gorgeous. You're gorgeous. I could just stand here looking at you all night, and I'd never get bored of it."

Kate knew she had chosen well. The dress had given her the reaction she had wanted. Rick couldn't keep his eyes off her so, she just let him look her over again. It used to bother her when people would stare at her like Rick was, even if she was dating them, it made her feel uncomfortable. But, with Rick staring at her the way he was, she felt wanted and needed but it was more than that. The way he looked at her with such awe in his eyes, it made her feel loved.

Kate just stood there smiling for a moment until Rick spoke again.

"Actually, I may not get bored but, I'm pretty sure we would both eventually get hungry," he joked.

"Hungry for what?" Kate said seductively, stepping closer again.

Rick swallowed. He hadn't actually meant anything by his comment, and hadn't even thought about other possible meanings. He was simply referring to being hungry for food, but after the way Kate just spoke and the way she was moving towards him again, he couldn't help but imagine a different type of hunger being fulfilled.

"Uh…. Food," he managed to get out, with a now extremely nervous look on his face.

"You're so easy," Kate said laughing as she gently pushed his chest away.

Rick huffed. "And you are such a tease."

Kate winked before turning and walking away with extra swing in the hips, "I'll just get my things."

She returned to Rick in seconds and he held out his elbow to her.

"Shall we go to dinner, my dear detective," he said in his best posh accent.

While taking his elbow and closing the door behind her, he responded with a matching accent. "We shall."

* * *

Rick wouldn't tell Kate where they were going all the way there, and Kate was surprised when they pulled up to a quiet street that didn't seem to have any big pricey restaurants.

"Ready?" Rick said taking her hand as she climbed out of the back of the town car.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I can't tell you that," Rick smiled.

"Castle?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me," he said.

Kate nodded and rearranged her hand so their fingers were tangled together. "Okay, I do. I trust you."

Rick led her through a small gate and what met her on the other side simply took her breath away. It was a small garden decorated with fairly lights, candles and lanterns. In the middle of the garden was a small table set for two, and as they walked into the garden a string quartet began playing Lionel Richie's 'Endless Love'.

"Rick," Kate said looking around taking it all in. A private dinner for two. "This is perfect."

"It is now that you're here," Rick said moving himself so he was standing in front of her. He took both her hands in his before continuing. "When we danced to this song back in the Hamptons, it was the moment I knew, like truly, honestly, not a doubt in the world knew, that I didn't want to let you go. And then, you stayed with me that night, and you know, I don't think I could have been any happier in that moment. I don't ever want to lose that feeling. This feeling."

Kate looked down timidly, but Rick lifted her chin to look up at him as he continued.

"I know dancing usually comes after dinner but, Kate, would you dance with me?"

She didn't need to answer with words, all it took was a smile, and then she simply allowed him to lift her hands to place them around the back of his neck before he let them go and placed his own around her waist.

They danced silently together, cheek to cheek, while the string quartet finished the song, and then Rick led Kate over to the table where a waiter now stood with two empty wine glasses and a bottle of wine in an ice bucket beside him.

"Is wine okay? I understand if you want it taken away," he said as he pulled out her seat for her.

"Wine would be great," Kate said. She was still struggling just to take everything in and get words out.

Rick nodded at the waiter who poured the wine into the glasses then disappeared through a doorway into what must have been the kitchen.

"This is just amazing Rick. How did you organise this?"

Rick smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I know people."

Kate laughed. "It's incredible, but you know I don't need you to do things like this for me. I love it, don't get me wrong, it's just, it's so much, I don't deserve this."

"Don't be silly. You deserve this and more. Besides, we're celebrating. You solved your first case as a detective today. And I know I could have taken you somewhere else but I just wanted you to myself, I didn't want to have to worry about cameras or reporters looking for a story, and I'm not sure you'd want that either right now."

"Thank you," she said placing her hand over his on the table. "That would be a little too much right now, but I guess it's going to come up one day, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I've managed to keep them away from Alexis as much as possible though, so I'm sure I can do the same for you. Let's just not worry about that right now," he said.

They sat smiling at each other for a moment before taking a sip of their wine.

"So, where is Alexis tonight?" Kate asked.

"Mother is looking after her."

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay for dinner on Thursday. I hope she wasn't too upset after I left."

"She was fine. She knows that your work may call you out at times. It's hard, but she understands. Your dad was very good at cheering her up. But maybe you can spend some time with us tomorrow. I know Alexis would love it."

"I'd love to. I'm not on call until Monday night which means I'll have the whole day tomorrow free to spend with Alexis and you."

At that moment the waiter brought out a tray of entrees and placed them on the table between them.

"I hope you like what I've chosen for dinner tonight," Rick said.

"I'm sure I'll love whatever it is," Kate returned with a smile. She really couldn't care what was served because everything else was just so amazing. They could have PB & J sandwiches and she'd love it.

Their waiter moved back and forth from the table to the kitchen bringing out different foods, clearing away empty plates and refilling the couples wine glasses while barely being noticed. Only when it came to dessert did he purposely make himself known again.

"Excuse me, Mr Castle," he said. "Did you decide on a dessert?"

"Actually, no" he responded.

"Would you like to hear the options?"

Kate interrupted before Rick could respond. "The food has been perfect. I'm sure all the choices are great."

Rick looked from the waiter and over to Kate, as she spoke, and she seemed so at ease. It made him happy to know she was comfortable.

"How about you surprise us?" Kate finished, and as she did, Rick got a surprise of his own, and almost jumped out of his seat.

Somehow Kate had managed to slip off her heels under the table and her toes were finding their way under the hem of his pants. It wouldn't have been such a shock to him if her toes weren't so cold.

As the waiter nodded and walked away, Kate started giggling.

"Your toes are freezing," Rick said.

"And your legs are rather warm. I thought I could warm my toes up on them," she said.

"Are you cold?" he asked. He hadn't really considered the coolness of the night air when he had organised dinner, and Kate didn't have a jacket with her.

"No, I'm fine," Kate said, but Rick didn't believe her.

Rick stood up from his chair and walked around the table behind Kate and placed his hands on her shoulders, then down her arms. "Kate, you're arms are as cold as your toes. Why didn't you tell me you were cold?"

"I've been having such a great time, I didn't really notice."

"Here," Rick said removing his jacket and placing it over Kate's shoulders. He then returned to his seat, but found not long after he sat down, Kate was standing and coming over to his seat.

"Don't even think about giving me my jacket back," he said.

"Oh, I wasn't going to," Kate said, gesturing for him to push his seat away from the table a little. "But I don't want you getting cold either," she continued, as she sat down sideways on his lap. "Now we can keep each other warm."

Kate wrapped one of her arms behind Rick's head while he placed one arm behind her back and another over her legs, so she wouldn't fall.

"Well, this definitely works for me," Rick said running his fingers up and down her thighs. "But if you are really that worried about getting cold, maybe we should take desert to go."

"You read my mind," Kate said with a wink before leaning in for a kiss.

The waiter returned a minute later with the desert and Rick organised for it to be placed in a container. A few minutes later, he and Kate were heading back through the gate to where their town car was waiting.

As they got closer to the car, Kate could sense that Rick's nerves were increasing again, and she had a feeling she knew why. They hadn't discussed where they would go after dinner, or if they would even go back together. He was probably worrying about what address to give the driver, so Kate decided to put him at ease and make the choice for him.

She had missed spending nights curled up in Rick's arms and she hoped she would get there tonight, but the problem was, where would they go? She now understood why Rick had been nervous. It was difficult. He had Alexis and his mother at the loft, so going back their would mean possible interruptions, but if they went back to her apartment, he would probably need to go home before morning to be there when Alexis woke, and she didn't want to have to give him up.

Kate slid into the back seat followed closely by Rick but neither had said a word since they had left their table. When Rick looked comfortable, Kate shuffled herself closer to lean into his side. She placed her hand on his thigh giving it a squeeze so he would look at her.

"Rick," she said softly. "I, uh, your place?" she stumbled out, not sure if it was the right decision, but it was the one she made.

Rick smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he said, and he gave the driver Kate's address.

Kate sat away from him for a moment and looked at him confused.

"Well, you might want a few things from your apartment, unless you plan on wearing that dress all day tomorrow too. I don't mind if you do, you look great, but I thought you might want to be more comfortable."

"Who said I'm staying?"

"You knew you'd be staying with me before I picked you up," he said overly confident.

"Oh really, did I now?" Kate said with raised eyebrows.

Rick nodded. "I saw your overnight bag when I came to pick you up."

Kate's mouth opened wide. "How? What?"

It was true, she had packed an overnight bag just in case but she thought it was out of sight. She had obviously been wrong.

"So, why didn't you say anything earlier?" Kate asked.

"Because, it's like I said back in the Hamptons. I want to do what's right for you. If you came back with me, I wanted it to be your decision."

Kate leaned in close again snuggling into his side. "Thank you Rick."

Rick squeezed his arm around Kate's shoulders and covered her hand that was resting on his knee with his own. There they remained, silently enjoying each other, while they drove back to Kate's apartment to pick up her bag.

* * *

By the time they entered Ricks loft it was just after 10pm. Rick knew Alexis would be sleeping, and knowing that his mother had plans for the morning, she would probably have retired to her room also. He told Kate to make herself comfortable while he took her bag to his room.

Upon returning, he found Kate barefoot, standing looking out the window. He slowly stepped in close behind her and ran his hands from her shoulders down her arms.

"The city really can be beautiful can't it?" she said softly.

"Mmmhmmm," he hummed in agreeance, as he kissed the right side of her neck. "You know what else is beautiful?" he said before kissing the other side of her neck. "You."

Kate turned to face Rick and his hands automatically found their place on her hips pulling her closer to him. She let him take control as their lips found each other and their tongues danced playfully with one another.

Rick was careful to control himself, he didn't want them to rush into bed as soon as he had her in his loft, he wanted to take his time about it. So after a moment of playfulness he pulled back. He moved the hand that had somehow ended up tangled in her hair around to rest on her cheek and she leaned into it.

"Wow," he said as he looked down at the magnificent woman in front of him.

"What?" Kate asked softly.

"You. Me. Just wow," he said speechless.

She smiled up at him. If that's what he was like now, what was he going to be like when they let themselves take that next step in their relationship. Without really knowing what to say back to him, Kate just pulled herself in close and rested against his chest. She never thought herself to be a cuddly person but with Rick she found herself feeling happiest when she was resting against his chest. There was something about being able to feel him there, with his arms around her. It made her feel things she'd not felt before. She felt safe, loved, wanted and needed all at the same time and she didn't want to let those feelings go.

"I believe we still have dessert to eat," Kate said after a moment. She could have stayed where she was forever, but she also really wanted to try the blueberry cheesecake they had come home with.

Rick left Kate to get comfortable on the lounge while he went to get the dessert and a spoon.

"So, are you going to tell me what you spoke to the captain about today?" Kate asked as Rick sat down next to her.

"You'll keep asking until I tell you, wont you?" he asked as he picked up Kate's legs and rested them over his, effectively turning her sideways on the lounge facing him.

"You know I will," she said smiling.

He dipped the spoon into the cheesecake and held it out before her, "Promise me, you won't be upset."

"I promise, but why would I be upset?" Kate said before taking the spoonful of cheesecake offered to her.

"Well, there were a couple of other detectives in the observation room who had absolutely no respect for you," he said while getting another mouthful of cheesecake on the spoon and feeding it to Kate. "They were making comments about you that, well they really just shouldn't have been talking about you the way they were. I had always had such a respect for the NYPD, but these two guys, they ruined it today. Seriously, I wanted to knock them out, but I decided talking to the the captain was the better option."

He had another spoonful of cheesecake ready to be eaten and held it in front of Kate as he continued. "I know you can look after yourself, and it probably happens all the time, but you shouldn't have to deal with things like that, so the captain is going to have a word with them."

Kate pushed the spoon away from her mouth. "Stop feeding me, so I can say something," she laughed. "A part of me wants to be angry at you. Honestly, Rick, I know what some of the guys are like. They've never actually said anything to me so I've never had to deal with it. They'll probably see me as some little girl who needs her boyfriend to stick up for her now. Things will still be said about me, they'll just be different things."

"Sorry," Rick said.

"No, it's ok, the thing is, that part of me, the part that wants to be angry, is being overpowered by the part of me that actually thinks it was kinda sweet. The fact that you would want to stick up for me, and you did it without making a huge fuss in the middle of the precinct. You did the right thing. Even if it does mean more talk about me, they shouldn't be talking the way they do, and it's about time someone said something."

"You're not angry then?"

"No, of course not. Now, you seriously need to try this cheesecake. It's delicious!"

Rick continued feeding Kate the cheesecake and taking a few mouthfuls for himself and just as they were finishing it off, Kate started to yawn.

"Tired?" Rick asked.

"A little. I'm surprised I'm only just feeling it now though. I haven't had much time to sleep this week."

"We should get you to bed then. You can sleep in tomorrow. Alexis and I will make you breakfast in bed."

"Mmmmm… sounds great," she said removing her legs from Rick's lap.

Rick was the first to stand and he pulled Kate up and led him to his bedroom.

"Mind if I use the bathroom?" Kate asked.

"Go ahead."

Kate picked up her bag and went into the bathroom to change into her simple rose coloured chemise. When she had packed her bag she really wasn't sure what to expect, so she chose something simple, yet elegant. She finished up in the bathroom and then went to join Rick in the bedroom.

Rick had used the time Kate had been in the bathroom to remove himself from his tuxedo, and was sitting on the edge of his bed in his boxers and an open shirt. When he saw Kate emerge from the bathroom, her face washed clean and in a simple chemise, he thought he'd never seen anything so gorgeous in his life. He didn't know what to expect when she came out. So often a woman would go to the bathroom and reappear in something overly revealing, but Kate kept it simple and he liked that. There was no need for her to try and impress him with lace or satin. He wouldn't mind if she did, but he was glad she didn't feel like she had to.

He watched her as she slowly made her way over to him, until she was standing almost directly in front of him. When she paused, he stood up to meet her, lifted his hands to her face and gently kissed her.

Kate's hands immediately felt their way around to his back underneath his shirt, pulling their bodies closer together, and deepening their kiss.

Ricks lips started moving against hers and she responded eagerly, opening her lips to him and biting down on his lip then soothing it with her tongue. His hands moved from her face down to her shoulders as he began kissing down her jaw and to her neck stopping to suckle gently on her pulse point. Kate's natural instinct took over as she tipped her head to the side giving him easier access.

Rick kissed his way back up to her neck before whispering softly in her ear.

"I'll be right back," he said stepping back before kissing the tip of her nose, and running into the bathroom.

When he came back out of the bathroom, Kate looked like she had made herself comfortable, lying back on top of the covers.

"Kate," Rick said softly as he got closer, but she made no move. "Kate?" he said again, and still there was no response. When he eventually got to where she was lying, he could see her eyes were closed and it was obvious she had fallen asleep. She'd had a busy week, and had hardly slept so it didn't surprise him.

He leant over and kissed her forehead gently stirring her awake again.

"Sorry," she said. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah, let's just get you under the blankets. Then you can sleep again."

Kate rolled over slightly to allow Rick to pull down the covers she was lying on, then rolled back and covered herself while he walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in himself.

Once Rick had turned off the light and made himself comfortable, Kate rolled over to snuggle into his chest. "Sorry," she said.

"For?"

"For this. For being so tired. For falling asleep before…"

"Shhhh, Kate," he said running a hand through her hair. "Don't be sorry for this. This is as good as anything. I've got you in my arms, I don't need anything more than that right now. Lets just get a good night sleep."

"Thank you," she said as she rolled away again, but as soon as she had, Ricks arm was around her waist pulling her back into his chest.

"Where are you going? I know it's a big bed, but I need you over here with me."

Kate smiled although she knew he couldn't see it. She wriggled in his arms to get comfortable, fitting her body perfectly with his. "Better?"

"Much better," he said as he kissed the back of her neck. "Goodnight Kate."

"Night Rick."

* * *

_**And now I'm hiding my head under my blanket waiting for you all to throw things at me haha. **_

_**Another moment of honesty, I'm actually feeling a little bit lonely after writing that chapter! :( Oh well...**_

_**And a random question... has anybody else ever heard of Kari Jobe?**_


	36. Chapter 36

When Kate woke in the morning Rick was no longer next to her in the bed. It didn't take long for her to notice the smell of cooking bacon wafting through into the bedroom. She remembered Rick had mentioned something about making her breakfast in bed so she fought he urge to get up immediately and remained where she was.

She wasn't waiting long before Rick came back into the bedroom.

"Hey," he said as he made his way towards her.

"Hey," she responded sitting up and resting back on the bedhead.

Rick sat down on the bed beside her, placed one hand over her legs so he was facing her and leaned in for a morning kiss which she gladly returned.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, remaining close.

"Better than ever."

"I'm glad. Now, I have one rather excited young woman in the kitchen who is quite eager to see you. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Almost," she said cheekily.

Rick was a little confused. "Almost?"

Kate lifted her hand to the back of his head and pulled him in capturing his lips once more. She could have easily stayed there for a while, but she knew Alexis was waiting.

"Now I'm ready," she said as she pulled away.

Rick stood up from the bed and went to get Alexis. It seemed like barely a few seconds passed before Alexis entered with a tray in her hands.

"Hi Kate," Alexis said beaming.

"Hey"

"Dad says your spending the day with us."

"I am. No work for me today. We solved the case yesterday."

Alexis handed Kate the tray of breakfast before making her way to the other side of the bed and climbing up to sit beside her.

"Have you eaten?" Kate asked, just as Rick walked through the door with another tray of food.

"We're all eating in bed today," he said and then made his way over to the women.

Alexis crossed her legs on the bed and Rick made himself comfortable at the end of the bed with the tray in between them all. Kate decided to do the same and crossed her legs placing the tray she was holding into the centre of the bed as well.

"Now Kate, no getting crumbs or egg in my bed. And no greasy fingerprints," Rick said with a serious expression.

Kate knew immediately that his serious expression wasn't really all that serious and she laughed. "Alexis, feel free to drop some on that side of the bed. I'll keep this side clean for me," she joked.

"No, Alexis, no dropping food on my side of the bed." He grabbed a slice of toast from the tray and lifted it over Kate's lap. "For that, I'm purposely going to put crumbs on your side," he said as he started to shake the toast above her.

Kate picked up a piece of bacon in her hands, and ate a little before wiping her hand across the sheet on Rick's side of the bed leaving a greasy mark. "Take that!" she said.

Rick responded by doing the same on the side where Kate had slept.

Alexis watched the two of them laughing as they went back and forth getting crumbs all through the bed and wiping greasy fingerprints all over the sheets.

Kate eventually gave in deciding she didn't want the food to go cold before they got to eat it.

"Are you staying again tonight?" Alexis suddenly asked, full of excitement.

"I, uh…." Kate stuttered. She could understand why the girl had asked with the way they had been acting and talking but she wasn't really sure how to respond. She really hadn't put any thought into it, nor had she even spoken to Rick about it. How could she be sure he would want her there two nights in a row?

"Let's just see what happens today," Rick suggested to calm Alexis down. Kate hadn't even left the bed since waking up and Alexis was already asking if she'd be staying again. He knew that Kate would probably need a little time to think about it. "But Kate," he smiled turning his attention to her. "You are more than welcome to stay again tonight, or any other night."

"Well, I'm not staying if you don't change your sheets today. I'm not sleeping in grease and crumbs."

Rick laughed. "If changing my sheets is all it takes to get you to stay, consider it done."

The look Kate gave Rick was all he needed to realise that she planned on staying another night.

The three of them finished off the food they had in front of them and then Alexis and Rick took the empty plates and trays back to the kitchen allowing Kate some time to shower and get herself ready for the day.

After showering, Kate realised she had left her bag in the bedroom with her clothes in it. She wrapped the towel around her body just as Rick was coming back into the bedroom.

"Oh, sorry," he said sounding a little startled, as if he hadn't expected her to appear when she did. "I can go and come back when you're finished in here."

Kate found his thoughtfulness to be sweet, and his nervousness was cute. If Kate wasn't aware of Alexis being in the next room she probably would have just dropped the towel and taken him to bed with her. She was a little saddened that she had been so tired the night before, but she was glad they waited and didn't force anything.

"No, it's okay. I just need my bag," she responded.

Her bag was closer to Rick so he took it over to her.

"Thanks," she said, taking the bag from him. "I wont be long."

Rick leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Take your time," he said. "There's no rush."

She guessed that he was only talking about taking her time to get ready but for some reason she couldn't help but wonder if there was another meaning behind those words. Was he feeling nervous about taking the next step in their relationship? She wasn't sure how it was possible but she was confident and nervous about it all at the same time. She hoped it would happen soon, she was going to wait until she knew the time was right. After taking the bag from him and having him so close while she was practically naked, she did find herself feeling a little more confident, so when she returned to the bathroom she didn't completely close the door behind her. She left a slithering of a gap between the door and the doorframe allowing Rick to peek through, if he wanted.

Rick didn't fail to notice that Kate had left the door slightly ajar, but he refrained from looking through. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he wanted to a little too much. He knew that if he had a peek, he would have an extremely hard time stopping himself from going through the door and joining her. Alexis was there though, and waiting in the kitchen for them to discuss plans for the day. He had to behave.

Kate faced away from the door, not really wanting to know if Rick had gone past looking in. Just knowing that he might was enough excitement for her. She got dressed, applied a little bit of make up and tied her hair back in a loose braid before going back out to find Rick and Alexis.

She found them in the kitchen talking between them about something Martha had done that morning. When Rick saw Kate he excused himself so he could shower and get himself ready, leaving the women to chat amongst themselves.

"Kate," Alexis said as Kate sat down on the stool beside her. "Could you braid my hair for me? I love braids and mom said she'd show me how to do it, but she never seems to have time, and well dad honestly, he does his best but, he really doesn't know how to braid nicely, and grams, actually, I don't know if I've ever asked her but…."

"Alexis. Of course I'll braid your hair for you. And we've got a whole day together. I'm sure we can find some time to teach you how to do it for yourself too."

"Really?"

Kate nodded. "Let's go sit where it's more comfortable first though."

They found a hair elastic and comb before they moved over to the lounge. While Kate took a seat on the sofa, Alexis sat between her legs on the floor.

Kate brushed her fingers through Alexis's hair and started braiding away. It was strange at first, she'd never really done anyone else's hair before. She'd imagined one day she would do her own children's hair, and it almost felt like that, only it wasn't. No matter how she looked at it though, it felt right. Sitting there doing Rick's daughters hair, it felt natural.

"So, what did you want to do today?" Kate asked Alexis when she was getting towards the end of the braid.

"I don't know really. Something outside, it's a beautiful day out."

"How about the Central Park Zoo?" Kate suggested. "It's been a while since I've been there."

"They have penguins," Alexis said with delight.

"Yeah, they do," Kate laughed. "So what do you say? Should we go to the zoo?"

"Who's going to the zoo?" Rick asked coming back out of his bedroom.

"We are!" Alexis said.

"Is that okay?" Kate asked him. "I haven't been in a while and Alexis said it's a nice day out."

"The zoo sounds perfect," Rick said as he made his way over to the ladies. He took a seat next to Kate as she finished the end of the braid and gave her a thankful smile. "As long as we get ice cream after."

"Tradition," Alexis added. "We always get ice cream after the zoo."

"Zoo then ice cream sounds like a great idea. My treat!"

Rick shook his head. "No no no, you don't pay for anything."

Kate raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "We'll make a deal, I'll pay for the zoo since it was my idea, and you can buy the ice cream."

Rick thought about it briefly. "How about, I pay to get into the zoo, you buy the ice cream?" He knew the zoo would be more expensive than the ice cream and it didn't seem right letting Kate pay for it.

Knowing she wasn't going to win an argument about money, Kate agreed.

As Alexis went to find her small backpack, Kate and Rick went to the kitchen to find snacks and drinks they could take with them.

"You two have matching hair styles," Rick said quietly as Alexis made her way upstairs.

"I know," Kate said smiling. "I said I'd teach her how to braid it herself later today."

Rick reached out and pulled Kate into his arms and held her tightly. "Kate, honestly, finding you, has been the best thing that could have ever happened for both Alexis and myself. Thank you."

Kate leaned her upper body away from Rick while keeping her arms around him. "I think finding you has been the best thing that could have happened to me. If I didn't have you, I think I would have continued to shut myself off from the world, and my job would be all I'd have. So thank you," she said before leaning up to kiss him.

As luck would have it, Alexis chose that moment to come back downstairs again.

"Oh man, not again," she said when she saw Kate and her father in another embrace.

The couple just laughed and separated. Rick continued going about the kitchen finding things and handing them over to Kate while she packed them into the bag Alexis brought down.

* * *

Many hours later they had been around to see all the animals at the zoo, once again they had found themselves in front of the penguins for an extended period of time, and they were now making their way to a nearby ice cream parlour.

When Kate mentioned she was going to get herself a strawberry milkshake, Alexis decided she wanted one too, rather than an ice cream, and Rick thought he'd join them and had a chocolate one ordered for himself.

With their milkshakes ordered they found a table and sat down, resting their tired legs. Before Rick took his seat he was sure to look around to make sure there was no paparazzi near by. Other than the shopping trip, this was the first time he and Kate had really been out in public in the city so he'd been watching out for them all day but thankfully he'd seen no one. While shopping he could easily go into a store to get away from cameras, but at the zoo, they were out in the open, and had no where to run and hide. He guessed because he hadn't released a new book in a while, nobody was really interested in him, and he was glad. Even so, he had still made sure he kept a little bit of space between them while wandering around, but now that he was tucked away in the ice cream parlour, he decided he didn't need to be quite as cautious.

He took his seat, right up next to Kate and draped his arm over her shoulder to hold her close to him. He would never grow tired of being able to do that, holding her next to him, showing whoever saw that she was his. He wasn't trying to be overly possessive of her, but she was his girlfriend, and he didn't want any guys walking past to get any ideas. She was an attractive woman, he was sure she would get the attention of many men if he wasn't with her.

When Rick took his place next to Kate and placed his arm over her shoulder, she immediately relaxed into his side. She wasn't sure why but he had been keeping himself a little further from her than usual as they wandered around the zoo, and she missed him being close, holding his hand and feeling the warmth of his body next to hers. She hummed in appreciation as she wiggled in next to him.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"I missed this today. I was beginning to think that maybe I smelt bad," she said with a laugh.

"Sorry," he said, then placed a kiss to her temple. "I was on the look out for cameras. You don't smell bad at all."

Kate nodded in understanding.

"So, what are the plans for the rest of the day?" Rick asked two women.

"No more walking," Alexis said quickly. "My legs need rest."

Rick laughed and agreed. "I like that idea."

"How about movies and pizza at home?" Alexis suggested before turning to Kate, "And we'll kick dad out so we can watch something girly."

"Hey, I like the girly movies," Rick said without even thinking about what he was saying.

Kate giggled as she placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently. "Oh, I'm sure you do. But I think a couple of hours for us girls would be nice."

She looked at Rick with almost pleading eyes, like she really wanted that girls time. He wasn't quite sure why, but he was happy to allow them some time alone.

"I'm sure I can get out of the way while you have some girl time. I'll do some more writing. I have a meeting tomorrow so I'll make sure I've got everything ready."

"Great," Alexis said. "How about we start with the girly movie, then dad can join us for the rest of the night," she said to Kate.

"I think that sounds like a great idea."

They continued drinking their milkshakes discussing the girly things they could do later and Rick had been fairly quiet, which was rather unusual. But when he heard Alexis mention Laser Tag he was quick to open his mouth again.

"You can't play Laser Tag without me!"

Alexis laughed, and then looked to Kate, "Told you he wasn't listening."

"Looks like you were right."

"We were talking about things we could all do together, with you too, after our girl time," Alexis said to Rick and watched as his face changed from a look of horror to one that just spilled joy.

"Laser tag sounds like a great idea," he said. "As long as you girls aren't ganging up on me again."

The two women looked at each other and nodded.

"Ok," Alexis said. "Me against you and Kate."

Rick was not sure he understood what her plan was. There had to be a reason she was planning to pair him with Kate, but he wasn't going to complain. He imagined she was going to be the best laser tag partner ever.

* * *

_**I'll be honest, this definitely is not among my favourite chapters, but I hope to get things happening in the next few chapters, and hopefully get this going somewhere. **_

_**I just put in my Castle season 1 DVD... Stana and Nathan look so different! **_

_**I'm hoping that watching it will stop me from going to sleep too early. I barely slept last night and so now I'm tired and its not even 8pm but I know if I go to sleep now I'll be awake again at like 4am and I don't want that!**_

_**Also... one last random piece of information. I have decided I need to go on a health kick after the last few weeks... TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE. So if I mention chocolate in the near future, be sure to tell me off!**_


	37. Chapter 37

After arriving back at the loft Rick set up his projector and white screen for Alexis and Kate. Of course, Kate laughed and said they would be fine with just the normal television screen, but Rick insisted. He said it was the best way to watch a movie and Kate just couldn't argue back when he seemed so adamant.

Once the screen was set up, Rick took their pizza preferences and said he'd call to have it delivered by 6:30, giving them a few hours of just girl time while he hid away in his office.

Alexis let Kate decide on a movie saying it was good manners to let the guest choose. Knowing Alexis wanted to watch a girly movie, she selected The Lizzie McGuire movie. She'd never seen it before but knew that Hilary Duff was quite popular so she guessed it couldn't be too bad.

About half way through the movie, Alexis went upstairs to her room and came back down with nail polish. "Want to paint your nails?" she asked.

"Want to paint them for me? I don't wear nail polish often so I'm not very good at putting it on," Kate said.

"Really? Mom never lets me do hers. She says she likes the way the professionals do it. I'm too messy."

"Yes really. Go ahead. I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job."

Kate really didn't like the sound of Alexis's mother at all. She wondered if she had always been like that and if Rick even knew the person she was when he married her. It was possible she changed after they got married. Realising it wasn't something she really wanted to be thinking about, she focused on Alexis who was pulling out all the nail polish she owned.

Alexis laid the colours out and picked a bright pink colour for herself, and Kate opted for more of a nude pink colour. She chose a colour that wouldn't be so obvious if she didn't get around to taking it off before going back to work in a few days.

Alexis started painting Kate's nails paying very close attention to them to make sure she didn't get nail polish where it wasn't meant to be. Kate was actually quite surprised at the level of concentration Alexis showed, but she didn't want to distract her by talking to her so she kept watching the movie, while Alexis painted.

It wasn't long before they both had their nails painted. Kate had helped Alexis with her right hand because it was difficult for her to paint with her left. After that they both sat with their fingers splayed out letting their nails dry until the movie finished.

"Alexis," Kate said, after turning the movie off.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not sure how to say this because I don't want you to take it the wrong way. I love spending this time with you, I just want you to know that I don't want to take the place of your mother."

"I know," Alexis said with a smile.

"Oh," Kate was shocked by the sound of Alexis's voice. Kate had been worried that Alexis was trying to replace her mother, but now she wasn't quite so sure. "You just keep bringing up your mother when I do things with you and I thought maybe you were…"

Alexis laughed. "Mom doesn't always show up when she says she will, she's not really very good at keeping her word and we barely see each other, but she's still my mum, and I'd never purposely try and replace her. It's just nice to have a grown up to do these things with. I can guarantee there's going to be times when I need a female to talk to, other than grams, and well if mums not around, it'll be nice to know that I've got you I can talk to."

Kate pulled Alexis into her arms. "Well of course I'll be here for you Alexis."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to start calling you mom or anything. That would be kind of weird," she laughed. "I'm sure you'll make a fantastic mother one day though."

"Thanks."

* * *

When the pizza came they all sat down and watched another movie while eating dinner.

Rick realised looking down at the left over pizza, he had possibly gone a little overboard when he ordered three pizzas for them. He may have been able to eat a whole pizza when he was hungry but, he didn't want to look like a pig. He knew that Alexis definitely couldn't eat a whole pizza, and with Kate's small size he was sure, she probably couldn't either.

"Looks like we'll be having left over pizza for breakfast tomorrow," he said to Alexis.

"Dad, pizza is not good breakfast food!" Alexis responded shaking her head.

"Oh, I don't know Alexis," Kate said going to help Rick put the left over pizza in one box. "Sometimes I think left over pizza in the morning is better than pizza in the evening."

Alexis was shocked. "Really? You eat left over pizza for breakfast?"

"Yeah, if I order pizza for myself and it's just me, I usually eat some at dinner, and some for breakfast."

Rick butted in before Alexis could respond. "Well, next time you order pizza, order it here, and we'll eat with you, then you wont have left overs."

"I just ate with you, and we have more left overs than I would have if I was on my own."

"Ok, so next time I wont order so much," he shrugged, closing the fridge after putting the pizza inside.

"You're just trying to find reasons to get me to come over more, aren't you Castle?" Kate said leaning with her back against the bench.

He walked over to join her, placing his feet either side of hers, and his hands on either side of her body, leaning in close. "Maybe."

"You don't need food to tempt me over here," she said as she placed her hands behind his neck.

"I know." He quickly gave her a peck to the lips and then pulled away. "Now, I do believe it's Laser Tag time."

Alexis jumped up from her stool. "I'll go get the stuff. Kate, want to come help me carry it all. Dad you can make sure there is nothing out that can get broken."

"Yes sir!" Rick said, saluting his daughter.

"This sounds dangerous," Kate said.

"No, it's fine. C'mon." Alexis said as she grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her through to the office where the guns and vests were kept.

About five minutes later they returned to the kitchen where Rick was waiting. He wondered what had taken them so long but realised Alexis was probably explaining to Kate how everything worked.

Rick and Kate joined teams as they had discussed, leaving Alexis to fend for herself. They crept around the house, hid behind couches, and occasionally shot at each other, but it seemed they were always too slow or weren't getting clear shots.

After they'd been creeping around for a while, Kate called Rick into the office and he guess she had a plan.

She did have a plan, but it wasn't the plan he was expecting. As soon as he got to the door she pulled him though and spun him around to face her. She closed the door with her foot behind her before backing herself into it and again, pulled Rick against her fastening their lips together passionately, and immediately fisted one hand in his hair.

Rick knew they were in the middle of a game, but the kiss was so demanding, he just couldn't pull himself away, and his body responded immediately, as he pushed Kate further into the door, trapping her completely. It wasn't long before he'd forgotten about the game, and the fact that Alexis was creeping around probably still looking for them. But then Kate started giggling, and he heard faint footsteps coming through the other doorway behind him.

He turned quickly at the sound but he was too slow. Alexis shot him before he even managed to aim his gun.

"Gotcha!" Alexis said, before running back out the door, through the kitchen and upstairs into her room.

Kate couldn't stop herself from laughing. The plan she and Alexis had come up with worked better than she had imagined. She's just glad Alexis came in when she did, because she wasn't sure she would have been to keep control for any longer than she did.

Rick turned back to face Kate. "I thought we were a team? And this whole time, you had a plan with Alexis? You were still ganging up on me, and made me think that we had a chance of winning?"

He looked genuinely upset and Kate felt a little bad but she'd seen the joy on Alexis' face when she got her shot and it made it worth it. "Us girls, we gotta stick together," Kate said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I can't believe you planned that?" he said. "That whole making out with me against the door way, Alexis was okay with that?"

"She just said to distract you in any way possible."

"And that's what you decided to do?" he asked confused.

Kate shrugged. "It worked didn't it?"

"Maybe a little too well."

"I may have got a little carried away."

"Well, I should go check on Alexis and make sure she's not completely grossed out by seeing her father devouring his girlfriends face."

Kate laughed, "It really wasn't that bad."

"Think about it from a ten year olds perspective."

"Okay, maybe it was kinda bad. You go see her, I'll still be here when you get back."

Rick ran out of the office and upstairs quicker than he'd probably ever gone before, and he really didn't know if it was because he really felt like he needed to talk to Alexis or if he was just wanted to get up there faster so he could get back down to Kate sooner.

A few minutes later, he was calmly returning back to his office, but Kate was no longer there. He spotted the bathroom light on in his ensuite off his room, so he made his way through. Kate had changed into her chemise again, and was just brushing her teeth, so he stood back watching her.

"Alexis ok?" she asked once she'd finished.

"Yeah. She was laughing about everything and she's probably already fallen asleep," he said.

"Oh, that's good. I'll try and think of another distraction technique next time. One that is maybe a little more child friendly."

"Good idea," Rick said making his way to the basin. "We'll save the less child friendly distractions for games between just the two of us," he winked.

Kate shuffled over a little to give Rick some space to brush his teeth, while she washed her face and let out her hair. She was the first to step out of the bathroom, but Rick was close behind her. She sensed him getting closer as she walked over to the bedroom door to make sure it was closed and locked, and as soon as she knew the lock was turned, one of Ricks hands was on her waist while the other was pushing her hair to one side and he whispered in her ear.

"Now, where were we?" he said softly before kissing just below her ear, and moving slowly down her neck while she moved her head to give him more access to skin. He pushed her straps off her shoulder and gently trailed a soft finger down her neck and over her shoulder before taking hold of her and turning her to face him.

He gazed into her eyes and saw a deep desire, a passion, a yearning for more. Nothing was going to stop them tonight.

Kate took a deep breath as she turned to face Rick. She was pretty sure tonight was going to be a big night, a night to remember. Looking up into his eyes as he looked down at her, she could see his pupils growing in front of her, his eyes full of love, desire and wonder, and it only made her want him even more.

Before she could move, he once again had her pinned against the door joining their lips. This time he took both her hands and held them above her head with one of his own, allowing the other hand to roam freely down the side of her body. As he pushed his leg between hers, putting pressure in just the right place, she let out a moan and found herself already losing the ability to stand on her own.

Rick let go of Kate's hands allowing her to finally reach out for him and while one of her hands found its way into his hair the other ran down his back.

Before she knew what was happening, both Kate's legs had found their way around Rick's body and he was carrying her away from the door and towards the bed. She had no idea how they got there, but she didn't care. She was so completely lost in his lips, and his eyes, and in everything he was making her feel.

When they got to the bed, Kate put her legs down before Rick could lay her down and she stood before him once again.

"You're sure about this?" he asked briefly.

"More sure than I've ever been about anything," she responded confidently.

Rick was never shy in the bedroom, he was always confident, but he wanted to make sure Kate still knew she didn't have to go through with anything if she wasn't ready. Although, once she'd given her response he was pretty sure he knew how the rest of the night was going to go.

Kate was the first one to reach out again for the other as she began to unbutton Rick's shirt. She moved slowly, partly wanting to savour every moment but also due to feeling slightly nervous about what was to come. It's not like she hadn't slept with others before, but this was different, there was a connection with Rick that she'd never had in any other partner. This was real.

Rick didn't want to take her attention away from what she was doing so he controlled himself as best he could simply holding onto her hips, caressing them with his thumbs moving in gentle circular motions and watched as she undid each of his button.

With all the buttons free Kate ran her hands down his chest and then back up again to his shoulders feeling his stomach twitch beneath her hands, and his heartbeat quickened along with his breathing. She lifted her gaze to look up at him again to see him smiling down at her and some of the nervousness she was feeling began to melt away. Kate pushed the shirt over his shoulders and he let it fall to the floor as he leant over to kiss her again briefly.

In front of him, Kate raised her arms and waited as he reached for the bottom of her chemise. He began to lift it watching her eyes at every moment to make sure it was still okay. A few seconds later her chemise joined his shirt on the floor and she stood in front of him in matching lace set of bra and panties.

"You are gorgeous," he said taking in the woman before him.

"And you, are still wearing too much clothing," she returned with a cheeky grin. "Something we are going to have to rectify very soon."

"I am sure I can help with that," Rick said as he started to unbuckle his belt.

Kate soon pushed his hands away and removed the belt for him.

"It must be getting a little crowded down there," she said lifting her eyebrows suggestively, as she began to unbutton his pants and slid her fingers just below the band to tease him.

"You could say that."

It wasn't long before those pants joined the growing pile of clothing.

Kate lifted on leg up onto the bed behind her, then the other and shuffled back a little and Rick followed so they were both kneeling on the bed facing each other. With just a little bit of a push Kate had Rick lying on his back on the bed and she was lifting one leg over his body to straddle him. If she hadn't already noticed how alive and ready his body was for her before, it became extremely obvious as she gently rocked her hips against his.

"Kate," Rick gasped. "You can't do that if you expect me to last."

She went to lean over to kiss him, but instead he lifted himself so they were sitting chest to chest. His hands made their way up her thighs, up the sides of her waist to the clasp on the back of her bra, and he undid it in one swift action. The small piece of clothing stayed in place between their chests that were pressed together but Kate pulled back just enough to take it away and throw it with the rest of their clothing. As much as she wanted to take her time removing their last pieces of clothing, she also just wanted to rip them off to finally experience something she knew she'd never experienced so completely before.

Rick began to lay back down and as he did, he managed to roll them over, pushing Kate's legs apart slightly to rest his lower half between hers with the weight of his upper body on his arms.

From that moment, everything seemed to be a blur for the both of them. Rick was first to remove his boxers, followed closely by Kate's underwear and then there was no stopping them. They were in it completely. They were in it before they even removed their clothing but now, this was it. It didn't take long for them to find their rhythm, passion and love driving them to move together. It was slow at first, but as the intensity between them grew, their movements became quicker and more powerful, until they both shook in pleasure and collapsed beside each other, out of breath and completely satisfied.

* * *

_**So there you go. They took that step. WOO WOO! haha **_

_**Also... any other Australians out there excited that Channel 7 started showing Castle season 5 episodes again. Seriously how long did they stop showing them... sooooo frustrating. **_

_**I would like to write more here, but currently I really need to pee! So I shall leave it there and get to the bathroom (too much information? too bad)**_


	38. Chapter 38

Rick was in the middle of a rather blissful dream where he was curled up beside a very naked Kate Beckett when he was woken by a gentle tickling sensation along his side. It didn't take long before he noticed, not only was something running gently up and down his side, there was also a weight rested on his chest. It was a warm weight, which could only mean one thing. What he thought had been a dream, could very possibly have been a reality.

He was still a little afraid to open his eyes in case he was imagining the whole thing so, he wiggled his arm out from where it seemed to be pinned beneath something, another sign that Kate was actually in his bed with him, and he placed it over the weight on his chest. Sure enough, there was a body there, and it was definitely naked. And so was he.

When Ricks arm found its way over her back, Kate knew he was finally awake. She'd been lying on his chest just listening to his gentle heart beat and steady breathing, enjoying the morning for what it was. Lying there naked, curled next to another completely naked body, she'd never felt so free and comfortable in her life. She'd never comfortably slept naked before, and had always put something back on before going to sleep with a boyfriend. Lying there now and being so fine with it, was just another sign that it was right with Rick.

Lifting her body up slightly, she moved to place a kiss to his lips, and with that, Rick finally opened his eyes, knowing for certain he couldn't have been dreaming the taste as well as the feel of the woman in his arms.

"Hey," Rick said as Kate pulled back with her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

"Morning."

"How are you feeling?"

"Never felt better but, I'm pretty sure I've pulled muscles that I didn't even know existed."

Rick looked at her concerned, before offering an apology, although he wasn't quite sure he needed to be. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, it was worth it," she said before leaning down to kiss him once more. "Last night…"

"Was amazing," Rick finished for her.

"Yeah. It turns out you were right about that stamina of yours," she chuckled.

"Well, I never doubted myself for one minute, but I'm glad you've been convinced."

"Oh, I was definitely convinced, and as much as I'd love to stay curled up in bed with you like this all day, I have a feeling your daughter will be up soon. So you better go shower, I've got breakfast this morning."

* * *

After breakfast on Monday morning, Rick had spent the rest of the day in meetings with his publisher and Kate had gone home. She was called into work in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday and by Wednesday afternoon she was seriously missing Rick. They'd managed to talk on the phone a couple of times with what had become their usual nightly phone calls but after spending two nights with Rick, the phone calls just didn't feel like enough, and she hoped to get out of work early enough on Wednesday to join him back at his loft.

She was in a meeting with Captain Montgomery and Detective Blythe going over the status of their current case when Rick called. Although she really didn't want to, she ignored the call, and planned to call him back the first chance she could. Rick would understand her not being able to take a call while she was in the meeting. But a few seconds after she had declined the call, he called again. Maybe he thought she declined it by accident, so she declined it again. When he started calling the third time she finally decided to do something about it.

"Sorry Captain," she said pulling her phone out again. "Do you mind if I get this? I wont be long."

Captain Montgomery nodded and Kate left his office to briefly take the call.

"Rick, what is it? I'm in a meeting," she said slightly irritated. It was amazing how quickly she had gone from missing him to finding him irritating. Although, it wasn't really him that was irritating, it was his inability to realise she was busy and couldn't take the call.

"It's Alexis," he said panicked.

"What happened?" she asked, all the irritation gone and replaced with concern.

"She's in surgery."

"What happened?" she asked again.

"She was vomiting all morning, and in pain. They said it's her appendix, she's gonna be fine, but I'm freaking out and I didn't know who else to call. I know you're busy, but I just thought if I could hear your voice, it'd calm me down."

His worry caused him to talk quickly and Kate wished there was more she could do. He was right, she was busy, she had a case. The Kate of just a few months ago wouldn't let anything take her away from the job but right now, there was nothing she wanted more than to be with Rick at the hospital. Being the appendix, Kate guessed they would have taken Alexis in for an appendectomy which was a low risk surgery, and there was probably nothing to worry about. But, even so, she was determined to get to Rick as soon as possible.

"Rick, where are you?"

After getting details from Rick, she told him she would try and get there when she could, and she went back into see the captain.

"Everything okay Beckett?" Montgomery asked.

"Sir, I know we have an open case, but I really need to get to the hospital."

Montgomery nodded. "Go. Detective Blythe and the team will be fine without you for the afternoon."

"Thank you sir," Kate said turning to leave.

"And Beckett," Montgomery continued and waited while Kate turned to look at him. "Sometimes we need to put our own lives ahead of the job. We need to look after ourselves and the people we love. It's good to see you finally doing just that."

Kate nodded and within minutes was leaving the precinct making her way to the hospital. Extremely thankful for the break in traffic she made it in record time and ran into the emergency department. A few minutes later she'd been told where Rick would most likely be waiting and she was walking down the hall to find him.

Rick had his head in his hands and didn't notice Kate until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"She's going to be fine," she said softly.

"I know," he said briefly looking up but then back down again.

Kate took the seat next to him and placed her hand on his knee. "Doctors do appendectomy's all the time. There's no need to worry."

"I know," he said again, placing his hand over hers and looking down at them. "Thank you for coming. I know I shouldn't have called you, I…"

"Rick," Kate interrupted. "It's fine. I'm glad you called. I know your mother is out of town, and it's good to have someone here with you."

"Thank you."

They sat quietly for a few minutes and Rick fiddled with Kate's fingers he had in his hand. Normally it would annoy her, but she knew it was just his way of dealing with his nerves.

"They said I was lucky to get here when I did," he said eventually. "If I'd waited much longer, her appendix could have burst and caused a lot of problems."

When Rick let go of Kate's hand she removed it from his leg and placed it on his back rubbing soothing circles as he continued.

"How could I not know she was sick and in pain? She said something last night but I told her she just needed some rest and she'd be fine. I sent her to bed. But today, Kate, you should have seen her face. She was in such pain."

"Rick, it's okay. These things happen, it's easy to mistake as nothing. You got her here in time, she's going to be fine."

Kate stood up from her seat and moved in front of him, she wanted to be able to comfort him more, but he didn't look willing to move, so she sat sideways on his lap and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. It did exactly what she wanted, and within seconds his arms were around her back and he rested his head into her chest under her chin.

It was strange to see the man she had come to know as confident, strong and courageous now collapsing in her arms, but it demonstrated just how much his daughter meant to him.

"How long has she been in surgery?" Kate asked Rick, after a few minutes holding him.

"She'd gone in just before I called you, so maybe 45 minutes now," he replied. "They said if all goes they'll be done in an hour."

Kate didn't have a chance to respond before a man in scrubs came into the waiting room.

"Mr Castle," the doctor called out and Kate jumped off Rick's lap allowing him to get up to find out how everything went.

Rick grabbed Kate's hand as soon as he was out of the chair. He was not going to talk to the doctor without Kate. They may have only been dating for a short time, but she was like family already and he wanted her to know everything. He also wasn't sure he would be able to take in much information. All he wanted to know was whether Alexis was ok, anything else he hoped Kate would take in and remember.

When the doctor told Rick the surgery had gone well and Alexis was just being taken to a room, Ricks smile finally started showing again. The doctor said he'd be back shortly to take them up to Alexis's room once the nurses had it all sorted.

As soon as he had gone Rick turned to Kate, took her in his arms and spun her around. "She's okay," he squealed.

Kate laughed as she was spun. "I told you she would be," she said when Rick put her down.

Rick quickly kissed Kate and thanked her again, then waited anxiously for the doctor to return to take them to Alexis.

When they were taken up to Alexis, Kate stayed outside the room as Rick went in but a few seconds later he came back out again.

"Kate?" Rick said as he opened the door out to her again. "Are you coming?"

"I thought she'd just want to have some time with you first," she said feeling a little unsure of where her place was at a time like this.

"Don't be ridiculous. She'll love that you're here."

Rick held his hand out to Kate until she willingly took it and he pulled her into the room with him.

Alexis was still lying asleep on the bed. The doctor had told them that she would probably be asleep for another 30 minutes and may be a little groggy when she woke up due to the anaesthesia, but they were welcome to sit in with her.

Rick walked over to one side of the bed and pushed Alexis's fringe back and kissed her forehead, then sat down in the chair beside her.

"I can't believe my little girl just had surgery," he said to Kate, who had seated herself on the chair at the end of the bed. "Did you ever have your appendix out?"

"No, mine is still there doing whatever it's supposed to do."

"Nothing," Rick said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, well it's there doing nothing. But I had a few friends in school that had theirs out."

"And they were all fine?" Rick asked.

"Yes Rick, they were fine. And Alexis is going to be fine."

Kate was more grateful now that her captain had allowed her to leave the precinct. Rick didn't seem to be able to stop worrying, and she couldn't imagine what he'd be like if she wasn't there. He'd probably be driving the nurses and doctors crazy.

Rick had gone back to watching his sleeping daughter silently, when Kate asked if he wanted a coffee or anything from the cafeteria.

"A coffee would be great," he said pulling out his wallet.

"Rick, I have money. I don't mind buying you a coffee."

"But…"

"No but's. You have to let me pay for things sometimes."

"But…"

"Nuh uh uh," Kate said shaking her head. "This isn't a date. I'll let you pay when we go out again."

"Okay," he responded placing his wallet back away in his pocket. "Hurry back."

Kate returned about ten minutes later and found Rick had moved from his seat beside the bed and was standing against the back wall. Handing him his coffee she noticed a doctor was just checking a few things.

"Is everything okay?" she said softly to Rick joining their free hands between them.

"They're just checking everything," he said. "She's going to be fine. It was just an appendectomy. She's going to be fine."

He felt like something was wrong. The look on the doctors faced confirmed his suspicions and he was trying to convince himself it was his imagination. He had to believe that Alexis would be fine.

The doctor took Alexis's temperature and heart rate, then turned to face the couple watching with concern growing on their faces.

"Is everything okay?"

Kate was the first to ask, feeling Rick's tightening grip on her hand.

"Her temperature is higher than we would like, but everything else seems normal. We'll just need to keep watch on it for a while. Let us know as soon as she wakes. It shouldn't be much longer."

Both Rick and Kate nodded and watched as the doctor wrote down a couple of notes on the file attached to the bed and then left the room.

Rick began walking back to the chair at the side of the bed taking Kate with him, not letting go of her hand. They didn't sit, they just stood looking over the sleeping child until Kate took both their coffees put them on the table and then once again took Rick into her arms. It was all she could think of to do to help him, and when she felt him relax in her arms she knew it was the right thing to do.

They remained there a moment until they saw movement next to them.

"Dad?" Alexis said weakly.

Rick jumped out of Kate's arms and turned to his daughter, picking up her hand.

"Hey pumpkin, how are you feeling?" he said as he kissed her forehead again.

"My stomach hurts."

"That's because they just took your appendix," Kate said making herself known to the young girl.

"Kate," Alexis said with a slight smile. "You're not working again?"

"Your dad called me, so I had to come to make sure you were okay." She then turned back to Castle. "I'll go let the doctor know she's awake."

"Thank you," he said before kissing her cheek.

Kate returned with the doctor after a couple of minutes and once again he started checking her temperature and heart rate. He then proceeded to check the site of the wound to ensure everything was ok and finally asked Alexis a few questions.

Rick followed the doctor out into the hall before talking to him while Kate stayed in with Alexis but when he returned a few minutes later the worried look reappeared on his face. He explained to Alexis and Kate that her temperature was higher than normal and her heart rate was slightly elevated so they were going to have to keep a close eye on her, but she was going to be fine.

Alexis was going to have to stay in the hospital overnight and possibly longer so Rick decided to stay with her.

About an hour after Alexis had woken she was asleep again and as much as Rick would have loved for Kate to stay with him, he was walking her back out of the hospital.

"Did you need me to bring you anything?" Kate asked Rick when they reached the exit.

"I think we'll be fine. And again, thank you for today. You are amazing."

"You know I care about her, right?"

"I know. Still, I just don't think I can thank you enough for coming," he said as he grabbed her hands and pulled her into his body, trapping her against him with his arms. "You know I've missed you the past couple of days."

"Me too."

"I'm taking you out as soon as Alexis is better."

"I can't wait," she smiled before lifting up on her toes and pressing her lips to his for a moment.

"I'll come by in the morning on my way into the precinct. Call me if you need anything," Kate said before leaving Rick to go back into his daughter.

* * *

_**I almost feel like some of that was rushed through, but I didn't want to bore anyone with boring stuff. I did delete probably a page or two of writing after realising it really meant nothing to the story. Hopefully I made the right decision to remove that. I just didn't think we would want another 20 chapters before they finally get to spend some time together again. And I'm not sure you'd want to hear about their day to day lives. **_

_**I discovered some really cool songs today... they made me cry, but they were so awesome! Does anyone else get overly emotional when they listen to songs?**_

_**Um... update on the chocolate thing... Haven't eaten any this week! GO ME! Oh, but I do have to go to the shop tomorrow so the trick is to not buy any. I'm going to make cheesecake filled strawberry's, hopefully I can figure it out. The recipe looked good! **_

_**Now I need to practice some guitar before heading off to rehearsal, and then get into writing again tonight. I'm only half a chapter ahead of myself again! AHHHHHH!**_


	39. Chapter 39

On Thursday morning Kate stopped by the hospital on her way to the precinct as she had promised. When she arrived, she went straight up to Alexis's room and found Rick sleeping on the chair beside Alexis's bed. He didn't look at all comfortable and she wasn't sure how he was even asleep in that position.

She set his coffee down on the table as she walked over to him, squatting in front of the chair. When she placed her hands gently on his knees he startled awake.

"Morning," she said softly.

Rick brushed the hair behind her ear. "Hey," he responded. "You're here."

"I said I'd stop by on my way into work didn't I? And I brought you coffee," she said gesturing towards the takeaway cup.

"Thank you. That's just what I need."

"Did you sleep in this chair all night? What happened to the bed they were going to bring in for you?"

"Uh, I told them not to worry. I didn't want to be too far away or get too comfortable and not wake up if Alexis needed me.

"That's sweet Rick."

"She's my daughter. It's what you do for the ones you love. You know I'd do the same for you too," he said with a sweet smile, making Kate blush.

"Well, I'll try not to end up in here."

"That would be good." And then it hit him once again that Kate being hurt and ending up in hospital was a possibility because of her job. Concern started growing on his face, which didn't go unnoticed by Kate.

"Rick, I can't promise that nothing will ever happen to me," she said reaching up and caressing his cheek. "But I've got a great bunch of cops and detectives around me to keep me as safe as possible."

"I know," he said leaning into her hand.

"Plus, I think I can be pretty kick ass!"

Rick laughed. "I bet you can!"

"But, let's not worry about things like that," Kate added. "We've got Alexis to concentrate on."

Rick looked over to the young girl sleeping in the bed next to him. She was finally beginning to look better and had a little more colour in her cheeks, which made him feel better.

"Speaking of Alexis, how is she?" Kate asked.

"She's okay. Doctors came in every hour. They've given her something to try and help fight whatever is keeping her temperature up."

"Do they know what's wrong?" she asked wanting to know as much information as possible.

"They think it may be a slight allergic reaction to something in the anaesthesia. The good thing is her temperature isn't increasing, but they said the earliest they'll be able to let her go will be Saturday, depending on how her temperature and heart rate go "

Kate nodded and stroked circles over his legs. "And how are you doing?"

"I've been better, but I'm okay. Alexis woke during the night, and she was feeling better than she had been, so knowing she is feeling better herself made me feel better."

"I wish I could stay here with you," Kate said. She hadn't even realised she wanted to be there so much with him until it left her mouth.

"I do too but New York City needs you more. You're getting killers off the street, and I wouldn't want to rob the city of your brilliance. I'll let you know if anything happens today."

His response made Kate smile.

"Now come here, and let me say good morning properly," he said with a wink and pulled her into his lap.

Kate just about fell over into Rick as he pulled her up and she let out a small shriek of surprise. She was then dragged down into his lap and they wrapped their arms around each other.

They rested their foreheads against one another for a moment before Rick spoke. "You know, it's a shame we're at the hospital and in front of my sick daughter. It makes it difficult to be able to kiss you the way I want to kiss you right now. And if I did, you know Alexis would probably wake up and catch us again," Rick said making Kate laugh.

"Castle," she rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and kiss me."

Rick laughed but was soon quietened by Kate's lips on his own again. They didn't let themselves get carried away but allowed their mouths to have a little bit of fun with each other before they pulled away smiling at one another.

"Mmm… You taste like coffee," Rick said licking his lips.

"Yeah? I finished mine on the way over, and I have a feeling I'm going to need more to get me through today."

"Gonna be a long day for you?"

"Yeah I have a feeling it will be. But don't worry, I will call you when I can."

"So how long until you have to leave?"

"Actually, not long at all. They need me as soon as possible."

"I guess you need me to let you go then?" he said noticing his arms were still tightly holding her onto his lap.

Kate nodded. "Keep me updated on how Alexis is. Will you let her know I came to visit?"

"She'll be sad she missed you. I can wake her now so you can say hi if you'd like."

"No, no, she needs her rest. Let her know we'll have another girls night soon."

"If it ends the same as your previous girls night, I'm more than happy to arrange something," he said wiggling his eyebrows.

Kate playfully slapped his chest. "Castle!"

Castle put on his best innocent face. "What?"

Kate rolled her eyes and stood up. "I really should get going. I'll talk to you later."

Just before she got out the door Castle called to her making her turn to face him one last time before leaving.

"Kate, thank you for everything. Love you"

"Love you too."

* * *

About halfway through the day Detective Blythe sent Beckett down to the morgue to see Lanie to confirm some details about their case. Kate was surprised that he had sent her alone but took it as a sign that he trusted her and that he was happy with her progress as a detective.

"Hey girl," Lanie called out as soon as Kate had walked in the door.

"Hey Lanie. Detective Blythe says you had some information on the case?"

Lanie explained to Kate all the information about the case, and Kate took notes where needed.

"So," Lanie started after Kate had all the details. "I hear you had to take off early yesterday. Is everything okay?"

"How did you hear?"

"Blythe came for information, I asked where you were. He said something about the hospital."

"Yeah, Alexis had to go in for an emergency appendectomy."

"Alexis?" Lanie asked.

"Rick's daughter," Kate explained.

Lanie's eyes grew wide. "He has a daughter?"

"Uh yeah, I didn't tell you that?"

"No, I don't believe you did."

"Well, he does. She's gorgeous, only ten but sometimes I think she's the more mature one in the family."

Lanie laughed. "She's okay now then?"

"Yeah, I think so. Rick has been updating me all day. Her temperature is up, but slowly going down."

"And things are going well between you and your man then?"

Kate smiled. "Yeah, things are going well." The look on her face probably said more than she had wanted it to.

"Mmmmhmmm, Kate Beckett, I know that look," Lanie said knowingly. "Really well hey?"

Kate pursed her lips to one side trying to stop herself from smiling again, but failed, and a great smile broke loose and when she felt her cheeks begin to heat up she knew there was no way she was going to be able to hide anything.

"Oh, I have to meet this guy," Lanie said with excitement. "It's not often I see a smile like that. He must really be something."

"He really is," came out of Kate's mouth before she even gave herself permission to speak and she found herself biting her lip to keep herself from saying anything further.

"My, my, my. You've really got it bad, don't you detective," the medical examiner said with raised eyebrows.

"Shut up!" Kate laughed out.

"I'm serious. So, any chance you could bring him by one day?"

"We'll see Lanie. I should really be getting back to Detective Blythe now. Thanks for the information," Kate said and quickly made her way out the door.

Kate wasn't really in any real rush to get back to Blythe, she just knew she had to get out of the room before Lanie could ask her any more about Rick.

* * *

As expected, the case had kept Kate busy until late on Thursday night, so she was unable to go back into the hospital to check up on Alexis and Rick. She did call him though to see if he needed anything, but his mother had come back from out of town when she'd heard about Alexis so she took anything he would need to him.

On Friday, Kate was called into the precinct early and she didn't have a chance to stop in to the hospital on her way in.

Rick had their family dinner cancelled for the week as it had been scheduled for that night. With Alexis being in hospital still, he didn't want to leave her alone. Jim was very understanding and said it was the right thing to do.

When Friday evening came around Rick was anxiously awaiting a call from Kate to say she'd finished work and was coming to visit at the hospital. Alexis had asked a couple of times if she'd be coming by again, and Rick couldn't really say yes or no, because he really wasn't sure and didn't want to make any promises he couldn't keep.

At 6pm there was a gentle knock at the door and Alexis's eyes widened looking at her father and grams sitting on the chairs beside her bed.

"Do you think that will be Kate?" she asked.

Rick shrugged. "I guess we'll have to see," he said but he knew when the person didn't immediately enter, it probably wasn't Kate. "Come in," he then called towards the door.

Jim entered through the door with a bunch of pink gerberas.

"I thought since we're not having dinner, I could come visit and see how the young one is doing," he said entering.

"Jim, please come in, take a seat," Rick said standing up and offering his chair.

"Thanks Rick. I bought you some flowers Alexis, I hope you like pink."

"I love pink," Alexis exclaimed. "Thank you"

"How are you feeling?"

Alexis told Jim all about her hospital experience, explaining how much she hated having things stuck in her arm, but she was glad to be feeling better and couldn't wait to get home to her own bed. Jim, in turn, told Alexis about a couple of his own experiences in the hospital. He told her about how much things had changed from when he was her age. With technology and new ways to operate the recovery for operations was reduced significantly, and for that Alexis was glad.

After Jim had spoken to Alexis for a while, he and Rick went out to the corridor to talk.

"Sorry I haven't called over the past couple of days," Rick said. "I know we said we'd call daily."

"No, no, don't be silly. You're daughter just had surgery. And besides I've been fine. My sponsor with AA has been great."

"That's great," Rick said with a smile. He was glad that Jim wasn't just relying on his phone calls with him but had reached out to others.

"And you?"

With a nod Rick responded. "All good here."

"And Alexis being here in hospital, I know that you probably haven't slept properly. You haven't been…"

"I haven't even thought about it," Rick interrupted.

"Good. And how are things between you and my daughter?"

"You're seriously asking me that?" Rick said a little shocked and slightly nervous. He had no idea how much Kate told her father, or even if she'd spoken to him much at all over the last few days.

Jim nodded. "Yes, I am seriously asking that. Just looking out for my girl."

"Well, everything is going great. She's great. Work is a pain as we expected. I was hoping to see her tonight, but it seems like it has kept her busy again. She did stop by yesterday though."

"It may be hectic for the first few months, but it'll get easier. It's a matter of getting the balance right. It was the same when I first started dating Johanna. We had to try to find the balance between our work and personal lives. If I wasn't at work late, Johanna was and vice versa. We worked it out though in the end, and even though it was still difficult at times, it was definitely worth it. There's no one in the world, I imagine, that I could ever love as much as I did Johanna, and I still do love her, even now that she's gone. And I knew right from the beginning that it was special."

"Jim, can I ask a question?" Rick asked thoughtfully.

Jim nodded.

"How did you know it was special?"

"That's a tough question. It was just a knowing. The connection between us was unbelievably strong right from the beginning. Every touch, every look, every minute was filled with this sense of perfection."

"I know what you mean," Rick said with a smile on his face as he thought about his relationship with Kate.

"I thought you would. I'm glad things are going well for you. Kate deserves happiness, she needs someone like you in her life. She's been holding back for so long, and I think now I understand why. She was waiting for you."

"Do you believe in fate Jim?"

"I really don't know, but I can see you do."

"Yeah. I believe it was fate that put us both in the same rehab centre, and that had our daughters visiting on the same day. And then fate that brought us all together. I just don't see any other explanation for it."

Jim gave a smile of acknowledgement. "Well, fate or not, I'm glad we've all got one another. And now, I should really be going so you can get back to your daughter. Thanks for the chat and I hope Alexis is feeling better soon."

"Thank you for coming by. Alexis always enjoys your company. Oh, and thank you for the flowers."

Jim went back into Alexis's room to say goodbye and to his surprise Alexis called him over to give him a hug before he left, almost bringing tears to his eyes. The acceptance this family had of him still overwhelmed him at times. A few minutes later he was heading out the door and back home.

Martha soon followed, going back home and leaving Rick alone with Alexis again.

A few hours after Martha had left, Rick finally received the phone call he had been waiting for. It was Kate.

"Busy day?" he asked after answering.

"You could say that. I had really hoped I'd get to come by and see you today, and I almost thought I could. About 6pm we were just about ready to stop for the day while we waiting on some lab results when we caught a lead, so I've been out chasing it since."

"Are you home now?" Rick asked noticing it was now after 10pm. He really didn't like the hours Kate had been working. There were too many days where she worked constantly for twelve hours or more. He really didn't think anyone should be expected to work those hours regardless of their job. Surely the NYPD could work out some sort of roster system or tag team detectives. He wasn't even sure how their brains were functioning after some of the long days they had.

"Just walked in my door before calling you."

"Really? Couldn't wait to talk to me huh?" he teased.

"Maybe, do you have a problem with that?" Kate joked back.

"Of course not. I love that! And I'm glad your home." He then added hopefully, "Will we see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she said. Nothing would stop her from seeing him. "I'd really like to see…"

"Me," Rick interrupted with glee.

"Actually, I was going to say Alexis."

"You know even if you did just want to come by to see her, I don't think there's any way I could be disappointed with that."

"How is she?"

"She's doing better. Her temperature has stayed down since I last messaged you, so we look like we could be all set to go home tomorrow afternoon."

"That's great! You'll both be so much more comfortable back at home again."

"And there'll be more room for you to join us even when you do finish work late."

Kate laughed. "You're always trying to get me over there aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I? We had such a great time last time."

"Yeah, we did," Kate agreed. "So anything else happen today?"

"Your dad came by," Rick advised her, not sure whether she would have been aware of his visit.

"Really?" She was surprised, but knowing that they were supposed to have dinner plans, it made sense that he would visit.

"Yeah, he bought Alexis flowers. It was really sweet. And they talked together for about an hour. They get along so well. Your dad is a pretty cool guy!"

"Cool?" she said with surprise. Nobody had ever called her dad 'cool' before.

"Yeah! You should have heard the stories he was telling Alexis today," he said with excitement.

"He hasn't been telling stories about me, has he?" she asked, knowing stories her father told about her could potentially be embarrassing.

"No, there's really nothing to worry about. He didn't embarrass you at all," he said hearing the apprehension in her voice.

"How did you know?" Kate asked, surprised that Rick even know that she was worried about the embarrassing stories.

"Ahhhh, Kate, I just know you too well. I can hear when you're worried about something by the tone of your voice."

It made Kate smile to think that Rick knew her so well after what seemed like such a short period of time that they'd even known each other. The connection they had between them was crazy.

"We had a good talk after he spoke with Alexis," Rick then added.

"About?"

"Things."

"C'mon Castle. You can't tell me you spoke to my dad and then not tell me what you talked about."

"Why not?"

"Because," she paused. "It's not fair."

Rick laughed. "We talked about how we were doing…"

"And how is he doing?" Kate asked before Rick could continue his sentence.

"He's doing well. And we also talked about you."

"Me?"

"Yep. Don't worry, it was all the good stuff. Actually, it wasn't so much you we talked about. It was us."

"You talked to my dad about us?"

"Yeah. You sound concerned. What's wrong?"

"I, uh, you didn't tell him about the other night."

"Oh god no! There are certain things you don't talk to your girlfriend's father about, and that is one of them! I think your father disguised the 'what are your intentions with my daughter' talk by talking about his relationship with your mother and trying to see if what I felt was the same as he had for her."

"And…?"

"Kate, I love you, more than anything."

"More than anything? That's a big statement to make."

"Well, there's Alexis and mother, but that's a different type of love. Other than that, I couldn't imagine feeling this way with anyone else. I don't think you could possibly have a connection deeper than ours, and you know what, I would do anything to make sure we kept that. It's like I've been walking around for years with holes all through my life, and you've come in and you're filling them. Everything I've been missing, you bring to my life, even things I didn't realise I was missing."

Kate wanted to curse the distance between them at that moment. She wanted nothing more than to be pulled into his arms and whisper sweet nothings into his ear.

"Rick, I feel the same way."

They were silent for a moment, neither really knowing what to say.

"I guess, I should let you go get some rest," Rick said eventually. "You'll definitely be coming in tomorrow?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

They said goodbye and Kate went to the bathroom to finally take a look at herself. She purposely avoided too much information about the work she had done that evening because she didn't want Rick to worry if she told him how her it had really gone.

Looking in the mirror at herself in the bathroom, she washed away the dried blood that was on her lip and removed her top to reveal the slash on her arm, which Lanie had cleaned and stitched up for her, and the bruises on her torso. She knew she couldn't hide it from Rick, he was going to see it, but it wasn't right to tell him over the phone. It really was nothing, just a scrape and a few bruises. A suspect pick-up gone wrong and she had been given the following day of to rest and recover. She knew she'd have to explain everything to Rick in the morning, and the rest of the day would be spent trying to calm his worries.

* * *

_**Parts of this are quite dialogue-y (yep, now I'm making up words)**_

**_And talking about making up words... I was working with a few people today and she mentioned her parents had made up their own word for something and she only found out the other day that it wasn't a real word. Anyone else's parents do that? _**

_**One other thing... I feel like I should let you all know that due to spending time writing, my car and room tidying has been somewhat neglected. I have such a mess to clean up, which I plan on doing tomorrow. Hopefully it wont take too long so I can keep writing!**_


	40. Chapter 40

Kate had quite a restless night due to all the thoughts going through her head. She was worried about how she was going to tell Rick about her injuries without him becoming too concerned or over protective. By morning, she was still struggling to sleep so she decided she might as well get up and get an early start to the day.

She was still feeling a little sore from the events of the previous day as she walked down the hall towards the door of Alexis's hospital room. Taking a deep breath in she slowly opened the door to the room, hoping her injuries weren't obvious in the way she carried herself. Her jacket covered the cut and the bruises but she had a feeling she may have been walking a little hesitantly.

Upon entering the room she saw that both Rick and Alexis were once again fast asleep. She was glad to see that Rick now had the extra bed in the room to sleep on so he would have had a much more comfortable sleep than his first night there. Alexis was obviously getting better if he didn't feel the need to sleep right next to her.

Not wanting to wake either of them she took the seat next to Alexis's bed, made herself as comfortable as possible and closed her eyes. She wasn't sure how long she had dozed off for and hadn't realised she'd even fallen asleep until she was woken by a soft voice.

"Kate," Alexis whispered for the third time, a little louder than the previous two times.

Kate opened her eyes and noticed Alexis had adjusted her bed to be sitting up a little and she was looking over at her.

"Hey Alexis," she replied wiping her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to doze off. How long have you been awake?"

"It's okay. I haven't been awake for long. Did you have a long night?" Alexis asked.

"Uh, yeah. You could say that, I didn't sleep so well."

"Is everything alright?"

Kate smiled at the young girl. "Everything is fine. I just had a lot on my mind. But you shouldn't be worrying about me. How are you?"

"I'm feeling a lot better. Hopefully I get to go home today."

"Yeah, your dad was telling me."

"You know he's been here the whole time. He hasn't left once," Alexis said, gesturing towards her father. "He's been showering in the small cubicle in the bathroom and everything. He hasn't even complained about the hospital food, and I'm sure you're aware hospital food isn't always the greatest."

Kate laughed. "He cares about you."

"I know. He's a pretty awesome dad. I couldn't imagine him being any different."

"Yeah. He is pretty awesome isn't he?" Kate replied glancing over at the man sleeping in the other bed. She could see he was drooling but, for some reason she only thought it made him more adorable.

Alexis nodded. "Do you want to wake him?"

"Oh no, we should let him sleep."

"Well, what about when you have to go into work? He wouldn't be very happy if he didn't get to see you. You know he talks about you all the time."

Kate thought Alexis was probably exaggerating. She was sure Castle didn't talk about her _all _the time but she chose not to talk about it. "I don't have to go into work today. I can spend the day with the both of you here."

"Really?" Alexis said eagerly and Kate nodded. "Awesome. And in that case, we should let dad sleep a little longer. I don't think he's slept well the past few nights."

Alexis and Kate spoke together for another little while until a doctor came in to check all of her vitals.

"Looks like you'll be able to go home as expected," the doctor said to Alexis before turning to Becket. "Are you her mother?" he asked.

Alexis giggled but Kate just looked at the doctor wide eyed. Surely she didn't look old enough to have a daughter Alexis's age, then again, it wasn't like it was impossible.

"Uh, no, I'm… um" Kate stuttered.

"She's my dads girlfriend," Alexis finished for her.

"Oh, well. Let Mr Castle know to come see me once he wakes and we'll get these discharge papers sorted," he said to Kate, not sure if she had even heard him. He looked at Alexis who nodded her head and he knew the message would be passed on.

The doctor left the room as a still completely stunned Kate processed what had just been said.

Kate had no idea how she could be confused as Alexis's mom, and it had shocked her. However, what surprised her more, was the fact that she realised she wouldn't have minded if people thought she was Alexis's mother. It made her realise just how much she had grown to love the girl. Still, she had no plans on taking on that position in her life.

Alexis and Kate spoke for a while, and Alexis filled Kate in on everything from her hospital stay. When Rick still hadn't woken up after another thirty minutes, they decided they would wake him and get things sorted so they could get out of there.

Kate helped Alexis over to the bathroom and then went to wake Rick. She walked over to his bedside and gently wiped the hair from his forehead and as she did his lips slowly formed into a smile and he opened one eye.

"You're awake," Kate said surprised. "How long have you been…"

Rick grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her down onto the bed with him holding her tight when she let out a terrible yelp. He quickly let her go and she sat up squeezing her eyes shut and took a deep breath.

"Kate?" Rick asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second," she said as she tried to breath through the pain he had just caused.

He reached out his hand and rubbed circles on her back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, it wasn't you," she responded reaching over to place her hand on his knee.

The way they were sitting on the bed Rick was unable to see her face, and all he wanted was to see her to make sure he really hadn't hurt her.

"Kate," he said softly now moving his hand from her back to her arm to turn her around.

She worked with him and turned to face him lifting her legs sideways over his, trying not to grimace as she did so.

"Something's wrong. You're hurt," he said more of a statement, than a question.

Kate nodded gently.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Last night. Before I called you. We went out to pick up a suspect. It was meant to be a simple pick up and then we were going to take him to the station, but something went wrong. He'd been tipped off that we were coming unfortunately had a couple of friends waiting with him when we arrived, and long story short, we ended up in a bit of a battle with them."

"How many were there?"

"Four"

"And how many cops?"

"Two."

"Kate, what happened to back up? You said it was fine, that you had a whole bunch of cops around you."

"They weren't far behind us but our suspect got to us before they arrived. Blythe did his best, he's a great cop. We were just unlucky and back up did get there quickly and stepped in."

"But too late," Rick added, starting to sound a little irritated.

"We'll know better next time," Kate said. "And now we've got more to worry about because it looks like we may have a cop tipping off suspects."

Rick could see Kate was actually feeling a little upset over the entire ordeal and the last thing she would have needed was for him to get angry or overly emotional about the lack of protection for her. What she needed was comfort and understanding.

"How hurt are you?" he said softly.

"I'm ok. Just a few bruises and a cut on my arm that Lanie has stitched."

Rick nodded to her left arm as if asking if that was the sore one. When Kate shook her head he knew he could safely lay her next to him without her resting on her sore arm, so he lifted himself up and gently pulled Kate's upper body down next to his. She relaxed into his side and moved her legs to curl comfortable beside him.

"They gave me the day off," Kate said resting against Rick.

He didn't respond. He simply continued caressing her arm gently with his fingers.

"Can I spend it with you?" she added, suddenly feeling a little scared about asking. He'd spent the past few days in the hospital with his daughter. Would he really want her around, injured and feeling sore?

Rick leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Of course you can," he said. It was only then that he saw the small cut on Kate's lip. He reached out to gently trace her bottom lip with his finger. "So, how bad are they really?" he asked.

"What?"

"Your injuries. You're not hiding anything from me?" he asked, unsure if things were worse than she was making out.

"No. Just bruising, a cut on my arm and you seem to have seen the cut on my lip. It's so small I forgot it was there."

"So, why didn't you tell me last night, over the phone?"

"I didn't want to worry you without being able to show you I was okay," she said with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Rick stroked down her arm until he reached Kate's hand then lifted it to rest on his chest with his hand on top. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said.

"That's sweet. It's like you said, things like this may happen, so next time, you can tell me," he said tenderly as his thumb stroked over her hand. "That way I'll know to be gentle with you, and I can take care of you."

"Rick, I really don't need you to take care of me."

"Yes you do. It's my duty," he said matter-of-factly.

"Your duty?" she said raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, as your boyfriend, it is my duty to look after you."

Kate rolled her eyes, and pressed her body in closer to his. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that?"

They both lay there together on the small bed until Rick suddenly realised Alexis had been in the bathroom for a while.

"What?" Kate asked, when she saw his confused look.

"Alexis?" he said.

"Yeah," they heard the young voice from beside them.

Rick and Kate had both been so consumed in each other and their conversation, they hadn't seen or heard Alexis come out of the bathroom. The couple sat up together on the bed.

"When did you come out of the bathroom?" Rick asked.

"A few minutes ago. You looked deep in conversation, I didn't want to interrupt."

Kate beat Rick to responding, "You can interrupt us any time."

"Well, almost any time," Rick corrected.

When Kate looked at him confused he whispered in her ear. "Would you have minded if she interrupted us the other night?"

Kate's cheeks flushed red almost immediately and her eyes widened.

"See, not any time," Rick said softly to Kate before raising his voice for Alexis to hear again. "What do you say I go see that doctor and start filling out the form so I can take you both home?"

"Sounds good to me," Alexis said excited to be getting out of the hospital. She was still a little sore but feeling much better.

* * *

A few hours later they were all back in the loft enjoying a game of Monopoly. Alexis was winning, but she had a feeling it was only because both her dad and Kate kept distracting each other.

Rick did his best playing with only one hand, keeping the other on Kate's knee as much as possible. He wanted to keep her close and didn't want to let her go. He was just so happy to have her back in the loft knowing she wasn't going to be called into work or have to leave in a rush. It was a little distressing however, that she was only there because she had been hurt at work the previous day.

He'd been worried previously about the possibility of her getting hurt at work and now that she had been, it only worried him more. He couldn't get angry, it was her job, and he knew he had to trust the people she worked with. Surely, these injuries wouldn't happen often. He was just thankful that she wasn't more seriously hurt. If she'd been shot or something equally as grave, there was no way that he would have been able to stay calm for her.

"Hey Kate, are you staying for dinner," Alexis asked rolling the dice for her turn.

"Yes," Rick answered with a smile while squeezing Kate's knee.

"Sounds like I have no choice," Kate said.

"Nope, not when I'm looking after you. You do as I say," Rick said smugly.

Kate raised her eyebrows. "Oh really Castle? Is that how it works?"

He nodded once before leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, there'll be times I let you tell me what to do," he said in a deep sultry voice.

Kate shivered as his voice rumbled into her ear, and then she gently pushed him away, not wanting him to say or do anything else in front of Alexis. As much as she loved the young girl, there were times when her constant presence could be a little challenging. There had been a number of moments where she had to hold her tongue, or keep her hands fisted next to her or in her pockets to stop herself from saying or doing something inappropriate in front of her. She knew that she and Rick would get their time alone, but sometimes she wished they had more of it.

"So what's for dinner then," Kate asked.

"I'll order in," Rick responded. "What would you like?"

"Chinese?" Alexis asked eagerly. She was so glad to be getting something other than hospital food.

"My favourite," Kate said.

"Chinese it is then."

Rick excused himself to go and order dinner while the girls decided between them that they'd had enough of monopoly and they packed it away. There wasn't really any winner but Alexis said it would be better that way. Her dad would be overly cocky if he won and sad if he lost. So, no winner was best for everyone's sake.

After dinner Alexis said she was feeling tired and was going to go to bed early. Rick had a feeling she just wanted to give him some time alone with Kate, but he went upstairs to her a few minutes later to make sure she was settled in, was feeling alright and to say goodnight.

"Feeling okay?" he said as he entered her room.

Alexis lifted her head from the book she had just started to read. "Yeah, just a little tired."

"What book are you reading?"

"Matilda," Alexis said with a smile. "I know I've read it heaps before, but I love it."

"That is a good one. She's intelligent like you," he said sitting down next to her on the bed.

"But she has magical powers that I don't have," Alexis responded, sounding somewhat disappointed.

Rick leaned over and kissed his daughters temple. "You might not be able to move objects with your mind, but you do have special powers. You have a power of love and kindness, and that's better than any other power you could have."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Dad, that's not really a special power."

"Oh, it really is. Love and kindness can be very powerful, you just don't always see the effects of it personally. You know when you show love to one person, they'll show it to others, and if everyone did that. Well, the world would be a very different place."

He was quite impressed with his explanation and Alexis seemed to accept it.

"Now, you're sure you're feeling okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"Okay, well you'll let me know if you feel any pain wont you?"

"Yes dad."

"Okay. Goodnight pumpkin," he said as he hugged her into his side. "Love you."

"Goodnight dad. Love you too."

After kissing Alexis once more on the forehead he got up made his way out her door closing it behind him and was about to head back down to Kate when he noticed her leaning against the wall just outside Alexis's bedroom.

"Hey," he said stepping in front of her. "What's up?" he asked noticing she looked thoughtful.

"You're a good dad," she answered quietly.

"I try. Sometimes being a single parent is hard. I always feel like she's missing out on something and I owe it to her to be the best dad possible since she doesn't have her mother around."

"Yeah. Well you've done a great job with her, and I don't think she's missing out on anything."

Rick stepped in closer and took both Kate's hands in his own then leaned in to kiss her gently on the cheek. "Thank you," he said as he pulled away. He released one hand and then started making his way down the stairs with Kate beside him. "Want to stay?"

"I don't have anything with me."

"I'm sure we can find everything you need here."

They made it to the bottom of the stairs and Rick stopped her before they went any further. Placing his hands on her hips, he leaned in and gave her a couple of feather light and slow kisses before asking again, "Please stay?"

Kate looked down at the floor as she lifted two fingers to her lips where they were tingling from his gentle kiss. Slowly lifting her gaze, she noticed Rick hadn't moved. He was standing in front of her with his pleading eyes.

"You don't have to, but I've missed you this week, and I'm not ready to let you go yet. Let me take care of you just a little longer. I'll run you a bath. We'll relax and go to sleep early," he said.

A small smile started to shine through on Kate's face and Rick knew he had her.

"Okay," she said biting her bottom lip. "I'll stay. That bath sounds great."

* * *

_**Well my house is clean again and so is my car! I feel like I've had quite a productive weekend which is good! **_

_**I also found myself watching Castle episodes and looking up Kate Beckett style outfits and I have just spent more money on a pair of shoes and jeans than I probably should have. OOPS! I did need a new pair of jeans, I had a good pair but something happened to them and the material has gone weird and fluffy in one spot. At the same time though, I probably didn't need a new pair because I already own 9 or 10 pairs I think. And the shoes... well really, what's the point of buying a new pair or jeans if you can't have a new pair of shoes to go with them, right?!**_

_**So now... if anyone would like to add the the "Replace the money I just spent" fund... please let me know :)**_


	41. Chapter 41

"Um, Rick. Do you have anything I can cover my stitches with so they don't get wet?" Kate asked as Rick began running the bath.

"I think I have a water proof bandage and some tape. Do you already have gauze on them?"

Kate nodded.

Rick took the first aid kit from the vanity cabinet and took out the things they would need.

"Do you need any help covering it? I'll do as little or as much as you want. I just don't want to hurt you."

"Help would be great," Kate said, stepping closer to him. "Washing could be difficult too," she added now leaning in close. She had trapped him between the cabinets and her body so he had nowhere to go. "Think you could help me with that?" she whispered into his ear.

Rick swallowed and nodded his head. "I… I can do that," he managed to get out.

Kate pulled back away and smiled. "Good," she said.

Kate was still a little sore which meant they had to be gentle, and as much as they both would have loved a repeat of their previous night together they knew it was very unlikely. However, they didn't see anything wrong with sharing the bath together as long as they controlled themselves.

As Kate began to unbutton her shirt, Rick turned off the water to the bath and made sure it was at the perfect temperature. When he turned back to Kate, she stood before him with her top open. He stood up from the edge of the tub and walked behind her helping her slip her arms out of her shirt, being careful of her arm he knew had the stiches.

He hadn't yet seen the injuries she'd sustained and both he and Kate were feeling a little nervous. As he slid the shirt off, he closed his eyes preparing himself, not wanting to let worry or concern take over his body.

At the same time, Kate was taking a deep breath not sure how Rick was going to respond to the bruises on her body.

She turned to face him, reaching up to stroke his cheek and he opened his eyes to her touch. He didn't say anything, he just gently reached out to the light bruising on her chest. She hadn't seen the bruising since she had gotten dressed in the morning and was glad to see that they hadn't worsened during the day. They really weren't too bad, only a very light yellowish colour, they could still be a little painful though especially when she stretched her body.

Rick looked over Kate's body. He was relieved to see the bruises were quite faint. She'd been very lucky. He traced his hand over her ribs where he could see a few bruises and his touch made her shiver.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, continuing looking over Kate's body.

"Not too much, mostly just when I stretch so lifting my arms can be painful, and my muscles are a little sore. I guess they're not used to being used in the ways that I had to. I need to find more time to do sparring training and it should become easier on my body."

Rick lifted his hand and pushed the hair away from her face and behind her ear. "Well, I'm here to help however I can. Just let me know what I can do."

"Let's get this bandage over my gauze first, and we'll go from there," Kate said.

Kate watched as Rick picked up the bandage and gently started wrapping it around her arm. She'd been injured before not like this, but they had still been injured. Every other time though, she was on her own. She'd never felt comfortable enough to let previous boyfriends help her or see her injured body. Somehow Rick had made his way into her life so securely that she not only was letting him help her, but she was allowing him to see the injuries and then bathe with her. A smile began to show on her face as she thought about just how lucky she was. She didn't realise how much had been missing in her life until she'd met Rick. Now, more than ever, she was looking forward to her future, because for once in her life, she could actually see a future for herself, and Rick was there every step of the way.

"What?" Rick asked when he noticed her smiling.

"Nothing," Kate said shaking her head.

"You're smiling."

"You're remarkable. Thank you"

For a moment they stood silently looking into each other's eyes. It was amazing how much could be said through eyes without the need for words. As Ricked looked into Kate's eyes he saw so much love, devotion, and happiness, even now, when she was in pain.

She wasn't sure how long they simply stood there looking at each other, but eventually Kate spoke up and broke their shared gaze. "We should probably get moving or the water will get cold before we get in," she said with a laugh.

Rick was suddenly not sure what he was supposed to do. Sure he'd seen her naked but this felt different. Kate however, just seemed so relaxed as she unbuttoned her jeans. It was like this was such a normal thing for them to be doing, like they'd done it many times before.

Rick watched and was quick to notice the slight grimace on Kate's face as she pushed her jeans down, so he quickly stepped in to help, crouching down in front of her and taking her jeans as she stepped out of them.

"Thanks. Now unless you plan on bathing in your clothes, you may wish to start taking them off," she said with a wink.

Before she removed her underwear she began to unbutton Rick's shirt. Once it was open she grabbed either side and pulled him close, pressing their lips together. Stepping back again, she could see she had taken Rick by surprise and left him speechless.

Rick didn't even notice that Kate had removed the last of her clothing and was lying in the bath until she called out to him.

"Feel free to join me when you're ready," she said.

He removed the rest of his clothing and was soon asking her to scoot forward so he could fit in the tub behind her, and she happily obliged.

Once Rick was comfortable in the tub Kate leaned back into his chest. As he gently wrapped his arms around her waist, she ran her fingertips up and down his legs bent on either side of her.

Kate closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath and let it out relaxing more into Rick's body. They remained silent for a minute until Kate spoke up. "I could stay like this forever."

"Me too," he replied. Taking one of his hands away from around Kate's waist he pushed her hair to one side then placed a kiss to her bare shoulder.

When Rick's lips left her shoulder Kate turned her head to look at him. He leaned over her and once more their lips were joined. He was cautious and gentle, yet passionate at the same time. His mouth was warm on hers, and the caress of his lips softer than she had remembered. There was something different about the way he was kissing her. It was intense in it's own way and wasn't all about the passion. It was full of care. He tasted her with his tongue and she opened her mouth to him with a low moan allowing him to deepen the kiss further.

Kate's automatic instinct was to lift her hand up and behind her and around Rick's neck but as she lifted her arm she felt a pull in her body and drew away from him scowling.

"Sorry," Rick said immediately lifting his hand to rub soothing circles over her back, thinking he had hurt her.

"No, no." she said. "That wasn't you. But maybe we should take it easy."

Rick guided Kate gently back to lay on his chest again and then leaned down to kiss her temple. Leaning over slightly he picked up the loofah sponge sitting on the bench next to the bathtub and began to run the sponge gently across Kate's chest. She relaxed further into him, rested her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes letting Rick know that what he was doing was okay. He was still very gentle and cautious making sure he didn't apply too much pressure.

They remained in the tub, allowing Kate to soak her tired muscles, until the water began to get cold. Rick found Kate an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boxers she could wear to bed and although it was still early, Kate climbed into Ricks bed resting back on the bedhead while Rick went out to the kitchen to make them some hot chocolate.

When they'd both finished their hot chocolates and Rick had finished questioning Kate about her work, they shimmied down under the covers, lying on their backs.

"You know Lanie at work," Kate said staring up at the ceiling.

Rick turned to face Kate, "yeah, you've mentioned her."

"She wants to meet you."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Kate said now turning to face him. "But we've barely had any time for just us, and I don't know I want to share you just yet. "

"Share me?" he said with wide eyes.

"Not like that Rick. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"It's not that I don't want her to meet you, just not yet," Kate added.

"Kate, I told you back in the Hamptons, I'm doing this at your pace. If there's people you want me to meet, you just tell me when, and I'll be there. If you want to keep me to yourself, that's okay too. We've already met the important people."

"Who?"

"Our parents," he laughed.

Kate shuffled herself closer. "Yeah, I guess you're right, and they're usually the most difficult."

Laying back on his back, Rick guided Kate to lay down on his chest, and as she lay down he slowly ran his fingers through her hair.

"Thank you for today Rick. For taking care of me," she said softly.

"It was really nothing. It's just what we do for the people we love." There was a little moment of silence before he asked, "do you have to go back into work tomorrow?"

Kate nodded into his chest.

"But you'll be careful?"

"I have a feeling, they'll have me doing paperwork for a few days. So yes, I'll be very careful."

Rick made sure the alarm was set and then closed his eyes listening to her gentle breathing.

* * *

Sunday had been a fairly quiet day for Kate. As she expected, she was stuck doing paperwork for most of the day in the precinct. She took part in a couple of interrogations, but other than that it was a rather boring day. The evening however, was a different story.

After calling Rick from the precinct, Kate stopped off at home to pick up a few things and was on her way back to his loft.

Rick had been writing for most of the day but as soon as he had hung the phone up from Kate, he was out of his office and in the kitchen putting together his favourite pasta dish. It was simple and didn't take long, and he knew Kate was going to love it. He also pulled out his fondue set and some fruit, which they could have for desert. His mother and Alexis were both at the loft but that didn't mean he couldn't be a little bit romantic.

Kate arrived just before the pasta was ready, and when Rick saw the overnight bag in her hand, he couldn't hide the joy he was feeling.

"I hope it's okay," Kate said, gesturing to her bag.

"Of course it's okay. You're always welcome here," he said as he took her bag and leaned in to kiss her cheek. He was actually delighted that Kate had brought her things with her, and brought them up before even asking if she could stay. It meant she was really starting to feel comfortable in his house.

Rick took the bag into his room and then rejoined Kate in the kitchen.

"Need any help?" she asked.

"Nope, time for you to relax. Alexis is in her room if you want to say hi," he added knowing that his daughter would probably be upset if he didn't send Kate up to her.

Kate made her way up the stairs and gently knocked on Alexis's open door getting the young girls attention.

"Kate, come in," Alexis said, placing her book down on the bedside table. "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"Yeah, I got out of work early so thought I should make the most of it and join you for dinner again. Whatever your dad is cooking smells great."

"He's a pretty good chef…. Most of the time. It's just the breakfast food you have to worry about."

"Yeah, I think you've mentioned it before. Chocolate or marshmallows in omelettes was it?" Kate asked screwing up her nose.

"Yeah, or both!" Alexis laughed.

"So, are you feeling better today?" Kate said taking a seat next to Alexis on her bed.

"Much better. And you? Are you still sore?"

Kate looked at Alexis confused, she wasn't aware that Alexis had known she was injured.

"I heard you and dad talking at the hospital yesterday. I know you got hurt at work," Alexis explained.

Kate nodded, remembering the conversation she'd had with Rick at the hospital and not hearing Alexis come back from the bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm much better too."

"Was it bad?" Alexis asked showing a large amount of concern.

"No," Kate said pulling Alexis into her side and hugging her. "You shouldn't be worrying about me anyway. Your father does plenty of that. I've got a good bunch of people at work looking out for me."

"So why didn't they stop you from getting hurt?" Alexis asked with a hint of confusion.

"Things didn't quite go as planned, but they got there as soon as possible and stopped anything more happening."

"But will it happen again?"

Kate wished she could tell the young girl no, but she really couldn't unless she lied. And lying was the last thing she wanted to do. She took a deep breath then answered, "I wish I could say no but sometimes things just don't go how we expect and someone gets hurt. But I'm tough," Kate said lifting her arms in a muscle man pose. "I'll always get through it."

Alexis giggled and accepted what Kate had to say and together they soon made their way back downstairs where Rick was setting the table.

Kate and Alexis helped place out the last of the dishes and cutlery, and just as they had finished, Martha appeared from her room.

"Perfect timing, as always," Rick mumbled under his breath as he walked by Kate, causing Kate to giggle a little.

"Kate," Martha said extending the vowels in her name. "So good to see you again."

Martha wrapped Kate in a hug, not knowing she was a little sore until she pulled away and saw the slight look of pain on Kate's face, which she was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind a smile.

"Grams, be careful. Kate is sore," Alexis called out to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear," Martha said. "I didn't know. Is everything okay?"

Kate really didn't want to have to explain any more about her injuries, what had happened, or try and convince them that she'd be okay.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need to take it easy for a few days."

Rick could hear the frustration in Kate's voice and jumped in before his mother could start asking more questions.

"Dinner's ready," he called out over everyone and he made his way to the table with the large bowl of pasta and sauce.

The pasta was amazing, Kate loved it, and wasn't even ashamed to dig in for a second round.

"Make sure you leave room for desert," Rick said to Kate as she ate her second helping.

"This is great, I don't know if I need desert," she responded.

"But it's chocolate fondue. Don't tell me you prefer this over melted chocolate and fruit."

"Hmmm…." Kate said thoughtfully, and Alexis laughed at the funny face Kate appeared to be pulling.

Rick grew up around actresses so he knew the thoughtful face Kate had was only an act and he too let out a small chuckle.

"Fondue sounds amazing," Kate finally said. "And there's no need to worry about leaving room, don't we all have a second stomach for desert anyway?" she joked.

Alexis was now rolling her eyes at Kate, something Rick found quite amusing. "That's so something dad would say," she said.

Rick and Kate both looked towards each other and smiled.

"That's because it's true," Rick said, as he stood up from his chair and started clearing the table. He was sure to place a kiss on all 3 ladies cheeks as he took their empty plates from them.

A little while later they were all sitting around the fondue set with a packet of toothpicks, an arrangement of fruit and marshmallows, and they patiently waited for the chocolate to melt.

They all dug in once everything was gone Alexis and Martha excused themselves, leaving Kate and Rick alone.

"So, there's still some chocolate left here. And I've got more fruit in the kitchen. Feel like more fondue?" Rick asked.

Kate didn't answer, she just simply smiled, and Rick knew that was as good as a yes.

They cut more fruit together and then both sat down on the stools at the kitchen counter.

Alexis came down to get a bottle of water at one point, and saw the two adults in their own little world again, feeding each other from their small toothpicks. She was just about to head back up to her room when the doorbell rang. Being the closest one to the door, and knowing her father was preoccupied with his girlfriend, she answered the door and got quite a surprise when she saw who was on the other side.

Rick thought he'd heard something but he was too caught up in staring at and feeding the wonderful woman in front of him that he pushed it to the back of his mind.

It wasn't until their visitor was standing directly beside the two of them looking down on them, that they even noticed she was there.

"Ricky?"

Rick gulped and pulled back from Kate. His eyes grew wide.

"Meredith!"

* * *

_**Oh no! Meredith is here. So I originally didn't have any plans to involve Meredith, but after some nudging I decided to do as some of you asked. Then I thought I'd add her in later, but realised now would make more sense... so here she is. Let's see where it goes from here. **_

_**Also, I'm watching some Castle dvd's and thinking about what I'd be like in an interrogation with Kate Beckett. I think I'd not even make it through a minute of it, and I'd be in tears. And I'd probably also stare at her hair trying to figure out how to make mine look like that. **_

_**In saying that, I'd love to have my own hair and make up person... and a stylist wouldn't go astray! How insanely awesome would that be. I have to admit my onesie and dodgy ponytail hairdo really isn't all that attractive. **_


	42. Chapter 42

Meredith had quickly greeted Alexis at the door and then pushed her way through. It wasn't that she didn't care about her little girl, she was the reason she was visiting, but she also couldn't wait to get her hands on her ex-husband. They always had fun when she was in town, and she didn't expect this time to be any different.

That was until she found him, with another woman, whose body was much too close to his as she leant in taking the chocolate covered strawberry he was feeding her.

"Rick?" she said, stepping up beside them.

Rick's gaze finally left the woman in front of him and turned to the one at his side. "Meredith!"

He looked down beside his ex-wife and noticed she had brought her suitcase with her. She obviously expected to stay with him, and why shouldn't she expect that? He'd let her stay every other time, but this time was different. This time, he was with Kate and things were serious between them.

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked.

"I'm here to see Alexis of course," she said matter-of-factly.

Rick gave her a look that said he wanted more information.

"C'mon Ricky, you didn't think I wouldn't come and see my little girl when she's just gotten out of hospital."

"Uh, I thought you would at least tell me you were coming."

"I've never told you any other time and it's never been a problem before," Meredith said stepping in closer to Rick and running her hand across his shoulders. "I thought you loved it when I came to visit."

Kate had frozen in place, not exactly sure what to do. Was this really Alexis's mother, and was she really just acting like she hadn't noticed her sitting there? She watched as the woman stepped in close to Rick and ran her fingers across his shoulders almost like she was trying to stake her claim, and Kate did not like it one bit.

Rick just sat there, eyes wide, looking at Kate, and speechless. He had no idea what to do. His ex wife was right when she said he'd never been bothered by her just turning up before, but he'd never been in a serious relationship any other time she had just appeared.

Meredith was the only one smiling, and while keeping on hand on Rick's shoulder she held the other out to Kate. "Hi, I'm Meredith, Alexis's mom, and you are?"

As much as Kate wanted to just get up and kick this woman out of the loft she knew that it was not her place to do so and she had to at least try to be polite. She spotted Alexis, out of the corner of her eye, looking nervous and unsure about how things were going to pan out. So she held out her hand to the woman and shook it. "I'm Kate." She didn't add anything further because she didn't feel at that stage it was really any of Meredith's business. Surely, Meredith knew as soon as she had entered the loft that she was Rick's girlfriend, although the way Meredith was acting, it didn't look like she'd taken much notice.

When Kate spoke, Rick finally came out of his stunned silence and stood up shaking Meredith's hand off his shoulder. "Kate," he started, stepping away from Meredith and behind the stool where Kate was sitting, "is my girlfriend."

Rick wrapped his arms over Kate's shoulders and joined them in front of her chest, leaning in to plant a kiss to her cheek.

Kate was glad Meredith's hands were no longer touching Rick but she still didn't feel comfortable, especially knowing that Alexis was still standing near by. Seeing the look on Meredith's face, she had a feeling Meredith didn't think their relationship was all that serious.

"Would you like me to let you two get back to your," she looked around, "whatever this is? I'll take Alexis out and come by when _she's_ gone." She pointedly looked at Kate and raised her eyebrows.

"Meredith!" Castle said, surprised and somewhat annoyed. He couldn't believe the way Meredith was behaving.

"Uh, Rick. I think you two should talk, I'll uh, I'll take Alexis upstairs," Kate said standing and turning to face him.

"Thank you," Rick said stroking his hand down her arm in a gesture to say thanks, sorry and just to show her he cared all at the same time. "I'll be up as soon as possible."

Kate smiled and then went over to convince Alexis to join her upstairs. Luckily, Alexis didn't take too much convincing and they were gone within seconds.

"Who is she Rick?" Meredith asked now showing just how irritated she was that she wasn't getting her own way.

"I told you Meredith, Kate is my girlfriend, and it's really none of your business."

"Oh, well it is when my daughters is concerned."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rick said beginning to feel anger rise. Meredith barely ever had anything to do with their daughter. She turned up unannounced once a year if they were lucky and here she was asking about Kate. A woman who had been in their lives for only a short while and already acted like more of a mother than Meredith ever had.

"She's spending time with Alexis. How do I know that's safe? I don't want my daughter spending time with people I don't know Rick."

"Really? That's your problem? You don't think Kate is safe?"

Meredith shrugged. "C'mon Rick, I know you, you probably don't even know how safe that woman is. How long have you even known her? A few hours?"

That comment made Rick's blood boil. How dare his ex wife make such accusations? He grabbed hold of Meredith's arm and pulled her into the office. It wasn't sound proof but it was further away from where he knew Alexis and Kate would be.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing?" Rick said, letting go of Meredith's arm. "I'll have you know that Kate is an NYPD detective. Alexis is probably safer with her than she'd ever be with you," he said, without even thinking, and he immediately regretted it. No matter how true the words were, he never wanted to be horrible towards Meredith. She was still Alexis's mother after all, and he didn't want to make things difficult for Alexis.

"So Alexis is spending time with cops? The people with guns? Yes, that sounds like a great place for a ten year old. Definitely a lot safer than with her mother," she said sarcastically. "I do everything I can to keep our child safe when she's with me."

"Meredith, I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh, I think you did Rick. Or you wouldn't have said it,"

Rick took in a deep breath and let it out.

"Why are you here Meredith?" he finally asked.

"I told you, I'm here to see Alexis. When you called to tell me she'd had an operation, I had to come out to make sure my baby was alright. I may not always show it, but I do care about her."

The accusing tone now out of her voice, she was beginning to sound more like herself, overly sweet and somewhat fake, although Rick knew there was some truth behind her words.

"And you couldn't tell me you'd be coming when we spoke on the phone?" Rick asked, letting go of his anger and trying to replace it with a sense of understanding.

"Well, I didn't know when I'd get here, and I didn't want to tell Alexis I'd be here and not be able to make it."

"So instead, you just show up unannounced?"

"I thought it was the better option. Like I said, it's not like you've been all that concerned before."

"This isn't like those times though."

"But it could be. We always know how to make is special. It's time we rewrite our top ten don't you think?"

The sweetness in her voice was going and she was replacing it with sultriness. Rick was caught unawares as she took a few steps towards him and ran her finger down his chest.

"C'mon Ricky, we both know you and whats-her-name aren't going to last. How about you go say goodbye so we can have some fun."

Rick pushed Meredith away. Just when he thought she was going to stop playing games and simply discuss her turning up unannounced and also talk about Alexis, she pulled out her own tricks again, and he'd had enough of it. "Her name is Kate, and I would appreciate if you showed her some respect. She is the woman in my life now Meredith, not you. No matter what you think, I believe in us more than ever, and I wont have you come in here trying to ruin it. So, how about you go see your daughter, since that's why you said you were here, and then get yourself to a hotel, because until you can learn to treat the ones that I love with respect, then I don't want you here."

"You're in love with her?" Meredith asked astonished.

"Yes," he said simply.

Meredith could see by the look on Rick's face just how serious he was about this new woman, and it completely shocked her. She hated when things didn't go her way and she realised she was fighting a losing battle but, she wasn't ready to give in just yet. She just had to try a little harder.

"I should go see Alexis, but Rick, it's getting late. Do you really want me to go out, on my own, looking for a hotel at this hour? All of the hotels nearby are probably all booked out."

Rick always knew the woman could be manipulative, but this time, he was determined not to let her win.

"I'll call a few hotels and I can guarantee I _will _find you some accommodation. And once that is done, I will be calling the car service to take you to that hotel."

"But what about Alexis, she needs me. It's obvious you are too occupied to look after her," she said getting bitchy again. She hated that she couldn't manipulate him into doing things the way they always did.

"That's enough Meredith. There is no way you are staying here, and that is final!"

"But you'll let that other tramp stay? Seriously, you know she's probably just after your money," she said, knowing that Rick had previously been scorned by women just after his money. Even though she knew it was a terrible thing to say, she just didn't like losing.

Ricks hands fisted by his sides. He had never been so angered by this woman before, and it was taking everything within him, not to drag her out of the house right then and there. The only reason he didn't was because of Alexis. He took a few deep breaths before responding. "You don't know what you are talking about. How about you try and get to know someone before judging them." He ran his hand through his hair, "Gah!," he huffed. "I don't even know why I'm bothering here."

While Rick was in the office with Meredith, Kate had come back downstairs after helping Alexis run a bat. She was just going to grab a glass of water when she heard Meredith. She didn't like what she had said and when she heard Rick respond she knew she needed to get in there and do something. She burst through the office doors and sauntered over to Rick with a plan. It may not have been the best plan, but she thought she could have some fun with it anyway and hopefully get a smile out of Rick, which she was sure he needed.

Kate walked straight past Meredith, not even bothering to acknowledge her in the room, and over to Rick, who had now stopped talking and was looking wide eyed at Kate, unsure what to expect from her. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms over his shouders and jumped up onto his body wrapping her legs around him. He almost fell backwards, but caught himself just in time and wrapped his arms beneath her to hold her. She gave him a quick cheeky smile and then took his lips in hers, making sure not to hold back.

It was not what Rick had expected at all. He had expected Kate to pull back when Meredith came, not do this. When had she become so territorial? He stopped thinking and just went on kissing. He wasn't going to deny the woman her moment, it was obvious she was working an angle with Meredith and trying to help him out.

Kate pulled back from Rick when air became necessary and he let her down from around him.

Rick stood staring at her stunned and speechless and Meredith looked the same. Rick's shock was more in awe and wonder of the woman, Meredith was more shock horror at what had just happened before her.

Kate gave Rick a moment to compose himself again before she spoke.

"It's obvious you have some things to work out together. And I've got to get back out to my corner. If I can't have you, hopefully I'll find some other rich and handsome man to take advantage of," she said and winked at Rick, which made him laugh. He was glad Kate hadn't taken his ex-wifes words to heart and she could make a joke about it.

Meredith did not find it funny, and stood with steely eyes towards the couple.

Kate started making her way towards the door, swaying her hips a little more than usual. She stopped just beside Meredith and turned her head over her shoulder back to Rick.

"Call me when _she's_ gone," she said giving Meredith a quick look up and down. "Bye Meredith," she said in a sickly sweet voice and gave her a little wave.

Rick couldn't help himself when he let out a small giggle.

"Seriously Rick! That's the woman spending time with our daughter?"

"You know that was all a joke right," he said still laughing. "Meredith, look, I don't want to argue with you. I don't want to keep you away from Alexis, but you have to learn that you can't always have things your own way. Kate and I are serious and so you can't just show up whenever you want to. Kate was right, we do need to talk about this, but I refuse to talk about it if we can't be civilised and talk like the adults we are."

Meredith nodded and took a seat while Rick took the seat opposite.

"First, I guess I should tell you about Alexis's operation, and we'll go from there."

Kate stood outside the office far enough away to not be seen but close enough to hear what was being said. Her plan could have either made things worse or better so she was glad to hear that they were now sitting and talking like the adults they were. She quickly went up to see Alexis to tell her she was going home, and then she quietly left. She'd told Rick to call her so surely he knew she wouldn't be staying. She didn't know how long he and his ex wife would be talking and she needed the sleep before going into work the next day. She trusted Rick and knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt her. She wasn't sure she trusted Meredith, but she had a feeling Meredith wasn't going to try anything after what she'd just done.

* * *

Kate unlocked the door to her apartment and entered. Standing at the entrance and looking around, the emptiness immediately hit her. She hadn't noticed it in a while, probably because she'd been too busy to notice. Tonight, however, she'd planned to spend at Rick's loft, where emptiness was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking back on the events of the evening she couldn't believe what had just happened and how badly Meredith had behaved. She wondered what Rick had ever seen in her. Sure, she was quite attractive, but her attitude and manners were terrible. She knew people changed. She had changed a lot in the past few months, her change made her a better person, but maybe Meredith used to be a different person too. She didn't want to get too caught up thinking about that though and decided she'd have a shower and prepare herself for bed.

A little later she was lying in bed with a book. It was getting late and she still hadn't heard from Rick. She figured he was either still talking things through with Meredith or wasn't going to call. She'd asked him to call, but she could understand if he had forgotten. She thought about calling him, or maybe just sending him a text to say goodnight. Looking at the time she decided she would wait another fifteen minutes or so.

Ten minutes later Kate's phone starting buzzing beside her and she just about threw her book on the floor beside the bed to pick up the phone. She quickly looked at the screen and saw Rick's smiling face looking back at her on the screen.

"Hey," she said as she answered. "Everything okay there now?"

"Yeah," Rick responded. "Sorry about all that. I really didn't expect her to turn up."

"So, she's gone now?" Kate asked.

"Well, not exactly. She's staying in the guest room tonight. It was late when we finished talking. I said she could stay tonight but I will be finding her a hotel room first thing in the morning. Actually, I might start looking online now and book one so she can't try and argue her way out of it. She tends to be a little manipulative."

"I noticed," Kate said. She wasn't sure what to think at that moment. She couldn't say she was happy that this woman, who obviously had impure intentions, was staying in his home. At the same time, she thought it showed Rick's good character, and she couldn't imagine him being any different. "And how's Alexis?" she asked. "She was a little concerned earlier. I feel like maybe I should have stayed longer."

"She's fine. And thank you for taking her upstairs and making sure she was okay. She really didn't need to see or hear what her mother was saying. Meredith may not always be there for Alexis, and may not always be the best role model for her, but she's still her mom. They don't get to spend much time together and I'd hate to think the little time they had would be tainted because Meredith and I couldn't sort things out."

"And you got things sorted out?"

"Yes, she has told me she will give me advanced notice if she's coming, and she will no longer expect that she will be staying here. So you and I shouldn't have her interrupt any more evenings together."

"Good," Kate responded as she settled more into her bed so she was lying down.

"I also told her I expect her to be more respectful of you, and she owes you an apology."

"So does that mean I'm going to have to see her again?" Kate asked unenthusiastically.

"Well, it's sure to happen now that you are a part of my life, and I plan on you being a big part of my future, so I hope that you two can get along for Alexis's sake more than anything."

Even though Kate didn't like the idea of having to try and be friends with this woman who had been so horrible towards her that day, she knew she had to it for Rick and for Alexis. It was a little overwhelming to hear Rick so openly say that she, Kate Beckett, was a part of his life and he wanted her in his future also.

"I'm sure we can manage that," she responded, reaching out for her pillow and pulling it to her chest with her free hand. She wished it was Rick she was snuggling to, but a pillow would have to do for tonight.

There was a few seconds of silence before Rick began speaking again.

"Kate," he said softly.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm sorry for the things she said about you."

"It's okay. She doesn't know anything about me, so it would be silly to have paid attention to any of it."

"I don't know how much you heard, but I just wanted to say that there's more to us than what she was saying."

"I know."

"I'm also sorry for not being able to stick up for you better. I realise there was so much I should have said and didn't, and so I'm sorry for that."

"Rick," Kate laughed. "I saw the look of horror on your face when Meredith first arrived. I'm surprised you managed to get any words out at all. I hope I didn't overstep when I came into your office."

"Definitely not," Rick answered a little too quickly. "I have to admit. That stunt was crazy stupid but so incredibly hot."

Kate rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see them. "It was all I could do to try and help you. Someone needed to shut that woman up, and I think that's exactly what we did."

"Yeah, she was definitely much quieter after that," Rick laughed. "So we're okay then?"

"Of course we are."

"I was looking forward to having you here with me again tonight," Rick admitted.

"Yeah, me too. Snuggling into a pillow just isn't the same."

"I know exactly how you feel," Rick said as he hugged his pillow tighter. "I'll make it up to you soon."

"Hopefully I'll have more early finishes at work this week."

"Well you've still got a bag here, and I'm going to hold it for ransom until you do come and stay again."

* * *

_**Random place to finish the conversation & chapter... yeah maybe, but I figure I didn't need to write them saying goodnight again! **_

_**I spent almost 12 hours at my bosses place today. No, I don't work 12 hour days... that would be crazy! Usually I work from home, but today I worked at his place with his wife and another person who does some work for him... put us all together and seriously it is craziness... They've decided to call me "GUMBY" because I wore my boots. Anyways, I then stayed for dinner with them, helped make brownies and then we all had a meeting with a group of people from church. How they put up with me all day I don't know. I tend to get a little weird! haha**_

_**Oh and here's the best part! My laptop computer is a pic of Stana with a fake monkey and I think the director. It was just a random picture I found when I needed something on my computer and I figured it was funny. Aaaaaaanyways, my bosses wife saw it just as I was closing my computer, and goes... "Is that you pulling that face?" When I told her it was Stana she was like, "From here it looked like you." I'm like I'LL TAKE THAT! I don't think I look anything like Stana personally haha**_


	43. Chapter 43

Kate was spending another day at the precinct doing paperwork while the other detectives were out doing all the physical work. She was feeling a lot better but had a feeling they were still taking it easy on her because she was a woman. She knew she was going to have to try hard to show them that she was capable of just as much as the men on the team so as soon as she had the chance she decided she was going to have to fit in more sparring sessions.

The day was going by really slowly, she wondered how Rick had gone with getting Meredith out of the loft and couldn't wait to see him again. He'd messaged her a couple of times to see how she was feeling and she'd told him she was a little bored of all the paperwork, but she knew it was part of the job and someone had to do it. If she put in the hard work without whinging about the boring parts, she knew there'd be more chance of her one day being able to lead her own team. She wanted to make a good impression on everyone.

Just after midday she was in the break room just about to make a coffee when she heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Is Kate around?" she heard, and immediately turned to see where the voice was coming from.

Someone pointed towards the break room and soon Rick was making his way towards her with a paper bag in one hand and 2 take away coffee cups in a tray in his other.

"I thought you maybe needed a break from all that paperwork," he said and then lifted the bag towards her. "And I also thought maybe you'd be hungry."

Kate smiled shyly. "Thanks. And perfect timing too. I was just about to make myself a coffee."

They walked over and took a seat at the table hoping that staying in the break room would give them more privacy than the bullpen.

"So what did you bring me?" Kate asked.

"Only what is known to be the best Thai in town," he said animatedly.

Kate knew exactly what place he was talking about. "Are you serious? I didn't know they did take out."

"They don't. Not for just anyone. But when I told them it was for New Yorks finest detective, they couldn't say no."

"Really?" Kate said disbelievingly.

"Okay, maybe not, but when that didn't work, I simply made a deal with them."

She was curious, completely unsure as to what he may have said or done. "What kind of deal?"

"I told them I'd have my characters visit their restaurant in my next novel."

"And that worked?"

"Works every time," he said with a smile.

Kate couldn't believe the lengths Castle had gone to. He was unbelieveable, but incredibly sweet. "And how often do you do that?"

"First time actually," he laughed.

"So how do you know it works every time?"

"Well, I've had a 100% success rate so far," he winked, causing Kate to roll her eyes at him. "Now, I think we should eat before our lunch goes cold."He pulled a few containers from the bag and set them down on the table. "Take whatever you want. I got a range of different meals"

They ate silently for a couple of minutes before Kate spoke up again.

"Thanks Rick. This was actually really sweet," she said placing her hand over his between them on the table.

"I felt like I needed to do something to apologize for last night."

"Rick," she interrupted before he could say anything more. "We talked about this last night, it's fine." She took another mouthful of noodles before asking, "So, did Meredith leave okay this morning?"

"Yeah, she didn't argue once. I think after you left I finally got through to her. She knows how serious I am about us, and so this morning when I gave her the details of the hotel I'd booked her into she left without complaint."

"Wow," Kate said. "That's a huge attitude change."

"Yeah, it took me by surprise too. I do feel a little guilty not having her stay with Alexis, but I just couldn't have her there, not with the way she spoke about you."

Kate felt Ricks hand tense beneath hers and she gave it a slight squeeze. "Hey, it's okay. You sorted things out. What about Alexis? Will she still get to see her?"

"Yeah, they're spending time together now. I dropped Alexis off at the hotel and will pick her up later. But I gave Meredith very strict instructions. She loves Alexis but she's not always been very good at taking things easy, and Alexis is still recovering. She promised they would spend time in the hotel and only go out to go to lunch at the hotel bistro."

"I'm glad they're still getting their time together. I think it's important."

"It is. So that's why I'm taking Alexis home to rest for a few hours later, and then Meredith is coming to have dinner with her at the loft until my mother gets back from her rehearsals, who will relieve her of child watching duties so she can go off and party or do whatever it is she does late at night."

"Where will you be tonight?" Kate asked, trying to go through conversations in her mind to determine if she'd missed something Rick had mentioned.

"With you," he said hopefully. "I thought I could take you out again, if you're not working."

A smile slowly crept onto Kate's face. "I'm sure we can work something out."

* * *

Later that evening, Kate waited patiently for Rick. She had been a little over excited about spending some time with him and got herself ready really fast. He'd told her to dress casual and comfortable but hadn't told her where they'd be going so she'd put on her favourite boot leg jeans with her black heeled ankle boots and a loose top, then let her hair flow naturally in gentle curls, finishing with some natural looking make up.

Rick arrived on time, as usual, which was something Kate had come to appreciate. He was always on time.

She answered the door to a confident looking man, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt and the first thing Kate noticed was the way his shirt brought out the blue of his eyes. The next thing she noticed was the cheeky grin he had and the way his hands were hidden behind his back.

"What are you up to?" she asked, after he'd greeted her with a kiss to the cheek.

"Nothing," he said.

"So, what are you hiding then?"

"I'm not hiding anything," he said trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Castle," Kate said smiling, "I can see you've got something behind you." She'd noticed he was holding a paper bag. "What is it?" She tried to turn him around and look behind him, but it didn't work.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Kate hadn't even realised they were still standing in the doorway. She'd immediately been captivated by his presence that anything and everything else had gone unnoticed.

She stepped out of the way and allowed him to enter, but as he did so he made sure he was always facing Kate so she couldn't see what was behind his back.

"C'mon, what is it?" Kate said starting to get impatient, but enjoying the thrill of not knowing all at once.

"It's a surprise."

"Well, how long do I have to wait before you'll tell me what it is?"

"I don't know. I guess that depends."

"On?" she prompted.

"How badly you want it," he said raising his eyebrows.

Kate couldn't handle it anymore, she needed to know what was in the bag. After quickly scanning the room to make sure it was safe, she did the only thing she could think to do. She ran towards Rick and tackled him into the lounge chair making him drop whatever he was hiding in the process.

Her plan had worked to some degree, her surprise was now free from behind his back, but she was no longer free to go and get it because he had her pinned to his body. When she'd tackled him and landed on top of his body, he was quick to wrap his arms around her.

Not being able to move anyway, she chose to make the most of the situation and melted her lips with his. Rick was quick to respond and immediately opened his mouth to her. Their lips danced playfully and Rick's arms eventually loosened around Kate and he ran his fingers lightly down her body, along her sides, making Kate let out a small giggle.

"What?" Rick said, as he slightly pulled away.

Kate shook her head. "Nothing," she responded.

They both maneuvered themselves to sit up. "I think you might be a little ticklish," Rick said lifting his eyebrows a couple of times.

"Me?" Kate said opening her eyes wide, "I'm not ticklish." She knew she was especially when she was with Rick. It was like all her senses were on high alert and parts of her become extremely ticklish.

"Oh, I think you are," he said. Without Kate knowing, he crept his arm to her side testing his theory and proving to her that she was, in fact, ticklish when she jumped in the air and away from him. "Told you so."

"Fine Castle. I'm ticklish!"

Kate had completely forgotten about the bag Rick had been hiding from her earlier until she spotted it on the floor in front of her. Now, she was curious as to what it could be. It wasn't a small bag and she was surprised he'd hidden it behind his back so well.

Rick noticed her looking down at the bag on the floor and was surprised she hadn't asked about it or picked it up.

"So, want to know where we are going?" he asked. "Take a look in the bag."

Kate leant down to pick up the bag, and pulled out a plain blue box. She looked towards Rick suspiciously, and his grin grew wider. He looked like a little boy at Christmas time, only he wasn't so little, it wasn't Christmas and it wasn't even him opening the present. Kate actually found it adorable, and just knowing that he was excited made her all the more excited to open it.

She lifted the lid on the box to discover a pair of brand new white roller skates. "You bought me skates?" Kate asked with a laugh.

Rick nodded. "And paint!"

Kate looked back in the box. Sure enough, next to the skates, was a range of different paint colours, and it made her laugh some more. "So, your plan for tonight is to paint some skates?" she said confused.

"Well, that's only part of the plan. First, we have dinner, then we go skating, then we come back and paint the skates."

Kate put the box on the floor in front of her and placed her hand on his knee. "That is not what I expected but it sounds like a lot of fun," Kate said and leant over to kiss his cheek.

"Oh, it will be fun," he said. "And want to know the best part?"

"What's that?" Kate asked.

"I have skates to paint too. So we can paint our own individual matching skates!" he said with a little more excitement than Kate was used to.

Kate stood up from the chair and held her hand out to Rick. "You surprise me sometimes Rick," she said as she helped him stand, and wrapped her arms low around his body. "You can be such a child."

With their hips now touching, Rick also enclosed his arms around the woman in front of him. "You don't like it?" he asked, starting to worry that maybe his idea wasn't such a good one. When he'd thought of it, he wanted something different. Something fun that they could come back to. Something they could enjoy together. Maybe he was going to have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new idea.

"I love it Rick. I love you. It's just not what I expected. I think after the past couple of weeks, we need fun, and that's exactly what tonight will be." Kate lifted up on her toes and kissed his briefly. "Thank you," she added when she pulled back again.

Rick smiled down at the woman in his arms. "You had me worried for a minute there. I thought I was going to have to come up with a new plan."

"This is perfect," she said, finally unwrapping her arms from his body. "And what time is your mother expecting you home?" she asked and immediately felt stupid.

"Are you asking if I have a curfew Beckett? I'm a grown man, I haven't had a curfew in years. And even when I did have one, mother wasn't all that strict with it."

"I know. I realised that after I asked," she laughed. "But I thought maybe you'd want to be home by a certain time for Alexis, considering she has only been out of hospital for a few days,"

"Well actually, I told them I may not be home until tomorrow. I hope that wasn't presumptuous of me. I just thought it would be nice to get to spend the entire evening with you without having to worry about anyone else."

Rick had followed Kate into the kitchen as they spoke so Kate could gather her bag and the things she would need for the evening.

"You want to stay here?" she asked.

Rick was slightly confused at the tone in her voice. "You don't want me to?"

"Well no, I'd love you to. I just thought, your place is much bigger, your bed is more comfortable, and I thought you'd want to be there in the morning when Alexis wakes."

"But my place is also busier and there's more chance of interruptions."

"Speaking of… I am on call tonight. So if the precinct calls, I have to go," Kate said a little disappointed.

Rick walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body pulling her back into his chest.

"Kate, if that happens, then that's okay. You shouldn't feel bad about it. It's your job. We knew this could happen," he said.

"Yeah, I know. But we've barely been able to spend any time alone. You sure you'll be okay if I have to leave early?"

Rick squeezed Kate into his body even tighter and kissed her temple. "Lets worry about that if they call. We don't want to spend the entire night waiting for them to interrupt us. Let's just have some fun together for as long as we can."

Kate's hands found their way to rest above Ricks around her waist and she lay her head back on his shoulder. "Okay."

They started moving together towards the door without moving away from each other. It was slightly awkward but Rick didn't want to let Kate go, and Kate didn't seem to mind.

"Rick," she said softly as they got to the door.

"Hmm?" he hummed in her ear.

"If we're going skating, we might need to take the skates."

* * *

_**I haven't completely gone through and re-read this whole chapter, so hopefully it all makes sense. I'm going to double check now but just wanted to get it up. **_

_**Also, I know it may be somewhat of a filler chapter. I just wanted to put their night out in one chapter, not have to split it :) **_

_**23 minutes left until midnight here... cutting it fine to get this chapter in on time. Friends invited me out for dinner at the last minute. **_

_**Oh one other thing.. paint your own roller skates... I have no idea where that idea came from, I just figure it could be a lot of fun!**_


	44. Chapter 44

Rick parked his Ferrari at a quiet little park, and then pulled out a picnic basket from the back.

"A picnic?" Kate asked slightly surprised. Most people went on picnics during the day, not in the evening. "I haven't been on a picnic in years. Isn't it a little late for a picnic?"

With the picnic basket in one hand he took Kate's hand in his other. "It's a beautiful night out, I thought we should enjoy it. It's never too late for a picnic and I've prepared what I consider to be the perfect picnic dinner."

Kate bumped his shoulder with hers and gave him a smile. "You just continue to surprise me."

Together they set out a blanket on the plush green grass. Rick was first to sit down next to the basket and then he pulled Kate down to join him. It didn't take long for her to nestle closely into his side.

Reaching into the picnic basket Rick pulled out about two dozen battery operated candles, of multiple varieties and placed them down lighting up the area. It wasn't dark just yet, but he had a feeling it would start getting dark soon. He then placed the prepared food in front of them while Kate looked on in awe.

"This looks great Rick. You really thought of everything," she said resting her head on his shoulder. Gesturing towards the food she asked, "Did you make all this yourself?"

"Mostly. I did have a little bit of help from Alexis," he responded while carefully pouring both Kate and himself a glass of Dom Perignon wine.

"Thank you."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two and Rick could sense that Kate had something on her mind.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"You know, you don't need to do all this to impress me." It wasn't that she didn't love it. It was just that she felt like it was too much and she'd done nothing to deserve it.

"I know, but I like to. You deserve it," he said, kissing her temple. "It's hard to get time alone, so when we do, I want to make it special. I want it to be memorable."

"Rick, you know it wouldn't matter what we did, it would always be memorable to me, because it's with you."

Well, Rick didn't have a response to that, so he leant over her and gently kissed her.

"How about we make a toast and then we'll eat?" he said, and Kate smiled her acceptance of his idea. "Here's to new beginnings, new possibilities, new memories,"

"To love and a future," Kate added getting a smile from Rick.

"To us," they finished together and clinked their glasses before taking a sip of their wine.

As they ate Kate asked how Alexis was doing, and whether Meredith had tried causing any more trouble. It wasn't the ideal conversation to have on a date, but it didn't seem to bother either of them. Rick also asked how Kate's current case was going and found out they hadn't yet solved it and arrested the killer, but she felt like they were getting close.

Once they'd both eaten enough, Rick put everything away and pulled out a container of chocolate covered strawberries. "Desert?" he asked. "You've already told me that you have a second stomach, so I know you've got room," he joked.

Kate let out a soft giggle, he never seemed to miss anything she said. "How could I say no?" she finally responded.

Rick picked up a strawberry and began to tease Kate with it, putting it up to her lips but snatching it away as she opened her mouth to take a bite.

"Castle," Kate laughed.

"What?" he said as he placed the strawberry in his own mouth and took a bite.

"That's not fair. You can't tease me and then eat the strawberries yourself."

Rick picked up another strawberry and held it up by his mouth. "Why not?"

"Well, you have to play fair, if you want me to play fair later," she said, leaning over and biting into the strawberry he now held in his hand.

As soon as her lips were away from the strawberry, he threw the last of it behind him and quickly grabbed hold of Kate's hips pulling her towards him.

Kate had only two options. Fall awkwardly on top of him, or lift one leg over to straddle him. She took the latter of the two options and made herself comfortable over his lap wrapping her arms around his neck. "So, are we gonna play fair?"

Rick held up another strawberry between them and Kate took a bite, taking her time removing her lips from the strawberry. The whole time she was into Rick's eyes, and then as she seductively licked her lips, he couldn't take his eyes away.

"Mmmmm," she hummed.

Rick picked up another strawberry and this time gently ran it across Kate's lips, until she removed one arm from around his neck and held onto his wrist. Pulling the strawberry away from her lips she leaned in towards Rick and gently kissed his lips. The strawberry's were great, but nothing was better than the taste of his lips.

Dropping the strawberry instantly, Rick's hands went straight to Kate's back pinning her body closer to his as he deepened the kiss. Kate's hands ran through Rick's hair and he gently nipped at her bottom lip causing her to let out a quiet moan. When he heard the noise, it only encouraged him more and he began lowering his body to the ground, pulling Kate with him, never releasing her lips. When he hit the ground he rolled them over slightly so they were lying on their sides facing each other, tangling their feet together.

The fact that they were out in the open didn't seem to bother either of them, but they also knew that they needed to stop before they went too far.

Kate pulled away for a moment and looked at the man lying before her. She found it almost unbelievable how much of a difference he had made in her life in such a short space her time. It was almost like she was a completely new person, she didn't feel closed in a bottle, she didn't feel alone and she felt like she could love openly and honestly. She was no longer hiding from anything.

"Thank you Rick," she eventually said.

"Your welcome?" he responded in question, not really sure what he was being thanked for.

Kate lifted her hand to his cheek. "Thank you for being you. You really are incredible, and as much as I would love to continue this with you, we could have all night to come back to it. The roller rink however, does close in a couple of hours, and I'd really like to use those new skates."

"You're right. We should probably get going. We are still in the park after all," he laughed. "I don't want you getting too carried away here."

"Me?" Kate said shocked. "I think it's you who is going to get too carried away."

"C'mon Kate. You know you can't keep your hands off me."

"You wanna bet?"

Rick thought about it briefly. "No."

"Afraid I'll win?"

"Yes," he said sheepishly.

"Good! Now, let's go skating!"

The skate rink wasn't far from the park so it was just a few minutes later were parking in front of the building, collecting their skates from the car and walking towards the entrance.

Rick noticed the strange look on Kate's face and stopped her just as they got to the door.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Rick, are you sure it's open? It doesn't look like anyone is here."

"That's because there is no one else here."

"So we're breaking in? You do know I'm with law enforcement right?"

Rick laughed. "No, we're not breaking in. I have keys," he said as he pulled out another set of keys.

"You own the place then?" Kate asked now feeling extremely confused and unsure how his owning a skate rink had never made it into a conversation before.

Rick had unlocked the door and held it open for Kate. "Nope."

"Well, how did you manage this then? Another favour?"

"Not exactly. I've been here a few times. The owners are fans of my books and are always happy to help me out."

"You do this often then? Bring women out skating with you?" Kate said jumping to conclusions without even a second thought. All this time Kate had forgotten that there had probably been a bunch of other women he'd treated like this. She thought the effort was just for and now she realised, he'd probably done it for others before, and it was just something he did. She wasn't upset, she just didn't know what to think of it.

Rick sensed the insecurity in Kate immediately and after switching on the lights, he put the bag with their shoes down and faced her interlocking his hands with hers.

"I come here with Alexis. She loves this place," he clarified before kissing her forehead.

Kate bit her bottom lip and smiled. She couldn't believe she thought he'd be talking about anyone else.

"Now, you stay here and put your skates on, I'll be back in a second."

Kate took a seat and changed her shoes like Rick had told her to and then waited until he returned to put on his own skates. A few minutes later he was leading her into another room where the skate floor was.

As they entered the room Aerosmith's, I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, started playing as a disco ball lit up the room creating another beautiful moment for the two of them. He just didn't know when to stop.

"Wow," Kate said and looked up at Rick beside her. "This is amazing. You really know how to spoil a girl."

"You're worth it."

"But please tell me you're not going to do this all the time." She loved that Rick was going through all the effort but she felt like it was too much. She'd heard Meredith say that she was probably just after Rick's money and she didn't want Rick to think that at all. She wanted him to know that he didn't need to spend a ton of money to keep her interested.

"I like to do things like this though."

"I know, and I love that you do. I just…. I don't want you to think that I expect it, or that I'm only with you for things like this."

"Kate, is this about what Meredith said the other night?" he asked, leading her onto the skating floor.

"No," Kate answered a little too quickly and she knew Rick could see she was lying. "Okay, so maybe it is a little," she corrected. "I know you don't believe a thing she said but…"

Rick interrupted her before she could continue. "What others thinks doesn't matter to me, and it shouldn't matter to you. What does matter is that I love you. I can cut down on things like this if you want me to, as long as you let me do it from time to time. I like spoiling you Kate."

"I guess I can allow you to do that," Kate said skating in front of him and stopping. She hadn't been skating in a while, so she was surprised at how easy it still was.

Rick, on the other hand, was not so talented and had no idea how to stop himself so when Kate stopped in front of him, he found himself skating right into her, grabbing her around the waist to try and stop her from falling, but instead pulling her down with him as he fell to the floor.

Luckily nobody was hurt and they just lay there laughing.

"I forgot to tell you, I'm not very good at this." Rick said once they'd calmed down.

Kate got up first and then helped Rick stand up off the floor trying not to laugh as his feet kept rolling out from underneath him.

Eventually they were both standing and Kate held both Ricks hands in hers pulling him forward as she skated backwards around the rink. Neither felt any need to say anything, they simply enjoyed their time together skating around with the music.

When Kate thought Rick was getting steadier on his feet, she lifted their arms and turned underneath so she too was facing forwards with Rick's arms now around her.

"You a pro or something?" Rick joked.

"No, I used to ice skate a lot, this is similar. I forgot how much I enjoyed it."

"I'd love to see what you can do without me slowing you down," he whispered into her ear.

"I'm really not that great," she said back.

"No, I bet your better," he said letting go of her hands. "C'mon Kate, show me what you can do."

Kate skated up ahead and Rick moved to the edge out of the way. He watched as she spun, balanced and danced on her skates. She moved beautifully and Rick was entranced just watching her. After a moment of watching her get lost in the music and her movement, Rick began to applaud her, catching her attention.

When Kate heard him applaud she felt a little embarrassed, she'd gotten lost in the music the moment she started skating on her own. She called him over to join her and for the next hour they skated together, laughed together, and simply enjoyed their time alone.

* * *

Later, in the evening they were back at Kate's apartment painting their skates. They'd stopped by the store and grabbed a few things to prevent them from getting paint everywhere, and had an area set up with plastic sheeting, all their paints and their shoes.

"You know," Kate said, as she painted the finishing touches to her shoes. "I don't think I've ever had this much fun on a date before."

"That's because your other dates haven't been with me," Rick said.

When she thought about it, Kate realised what Rick said was true. The guys Kate had been out with before were always so serious. They didn't seem to know how to have fun. Their idea of fun was only in the bedroom, and yeah, that could be fun. But Kate liked that Rick didn't need that. There was more to their relationship that just what went on in the bedroom. She knew they could go to bed tonight, and he wouldn't expect anything more. Sure, he'd like the fun to continue into the bedroom, she knew that, but he wouldn't be upset if they simply slept like they had done before. There was no pressure for anything more.

Rick watched as Kate obviously got caught up in her thoughts. He wasn't sure what she was thinking about, but he knew just how to get her out of it. He picked up a paint brush from in front of him and wiped it down her arm.

"Castle!"

"What?" he said innocently.

Kate picked up another paint brush and painted down his face leaving a blue streak on his nose.

And that was the beginning of the paint fight. Five minutes later both Kate and Rick were covered in paint and their clothes were completely ruined but neither cared.

"I'm glad we put the plastic down," Kate said looking around at the splatterings of paint all over the place.

"I'm sorry, I ruined your clothes. I'll buy you new ones," Rick said.

"Don't be silly. If you buy me new clothes, then I should replace yours."

"Now that is ridiculous. I started this."

"And I'm finishing it," Kate said before lifting the small pot of blue paint and tipping it over his head.

Rick's eyes grew wide in surprise but before he could retaliate, Kate wrapped her arms around him and drew him in for a kiss, and as she did she placed one hand in the paint on his head and ran it down his back, while laughing into his lips.

"You think you're funny, don't you Beckett?"

"I don't think. I know I am," she said in between fairy kisses. "You know what else I think?"

"What's that?"

"I think we need to clean up this mess, and then I think you need to shower."

"Are you gonna join me?" he grinned.

"We'll see."

The look on her face told Rick all he needed to know. She was going to be joining him in the shower. He would make sure of it.

They must have cleaned up their mess in record time and as Kate turned from placing their skates on newspaper to dry she found Rick standing directly in front of her. He bent down, picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and ran towards the bathroom.

"Castle, put me down," she said laughing and kicking her legs.

"Nope."

Once he made it to the bathroom he immediately turned the water on in the shower finally putting Kate down under the water.

"Rick, I'm still dressed."

"So am I," he said with a shrug getting in the shower with her. "But we can soon change that," he said pulling her closer.

Kate was first to move her hands to his shirt buttons and began popping them open one by one.

His shirt was thrown on the floor and soon Kate's top joined it, followed by their pants until they were both standing in their underwear under the water. Kate told Rick to turn around so she could help wash the paint out of his hair, and he did the same for her until they were both paint free.

"So tell me Kate," Rick said from behind her, running his hands down her arms until he intertwined his fingers with hers, "do you always shower in your underwear?"

Kate shivered, which she though was strange considering she was in the shower, under hot water, but it was what his touch did to her. She felt his lips skim beneath her ear gently making their way down her neck and along her shoulder. She closed her eyes and let out a small hum, unable to get out any words, and just relishing the feel of his lips on her body. She released their twined fingers and wrapped them behind Rick's neck while she tipped her head to the side.

When Kate released Ricks fingers his hands were on her body in an instant. He ran them across her stomach and ran them over every inch of her while his lips and tongue continued to work over her neck and shoulders.

Kate could feel Ricks excitement growing behind her through his boxers. Suddenly all she wanted was to feel him inside her again, as memories of their first night together flooded her mind.

When one of his hands made their decent gently below the waistband of her panties, Kate almost collapsed right there. She wasn't sure she was going to last long standing in the shower so she turned to face Rick. Running her hands down his back her fingertips made their way beneath his waistband and she pushed his boxers down to the floor and she stood back and took in the site before her. It wasn't like she hadn't seen his body before, but there was something about seeing him while showering that made it all so different.

"Like what you see?" he winked.

"You know I do."

Rick's hands soon continued their exploration of Kate's body and while they did he was sure to ensure they were both completely naked, and then all of a sudden the teasing was becoming too much, and they needed more.

Rick turned them and pushed Kate back into the shower wall. From that moment, things were no longer slow and gentle. They decided slow and gentle could wait. It had been a week since they'd been together like this and they just wanted to feel each other in fullness again.

Minutes later they both stood panting, Kate only managing to stay standing because she was trapped between the wall and Ricks body. In the distance Kate could hear her phone ringing and she knew she really should be getting it. However, right at that moment, answering her phone was the last thing on her mind. She wasn't sure she'd be able to answer it appropriately in her current state anyway. If it was the precinct, she would call them as soon as she was out of the shower.

Rick must have heard her phone too, because all too soon he was stepping away from her, turning off the water and reaching around for the towels. He passed one to her and she thanked him and wrapped it around her body.

Kate automatically went on a search for her phone. She needed to find out if she was needed at work before she knew what clothes to put on. She found her phone, and there was one voicemail left, so she moved out of the bedroom to give herself a moment of privacy to listen.

"Hi Kate, I now it's getting late but I thought I would invite you and lover boy to join me for drinks. You're not answering though so you must already be getting busy. You go girl"

It was Lanie, and it was obvious she'd already had a couple of drinks. Obviously she had the following day off work. Kate was relieved that it wasn't the precinct, and it meant her night with Rick could continue.

When she returned to the bedroom Rick was still just standing around in her bedroom, simply covered by a towel.

"Good news," she said. "That wasn't the precinct." Then noticing Rick's troubled look she asked, "What's wrong?"

"There's just one thing I didn't think of for tonight," he said.

Kate had no idea what it was. She thought the night had been perfect. "And that is?" she prompted.

"The only clothes I brought with me were the clothes that I was wearing, and well… now they're wet and kinda ruined."

Kate laughed now understanding his predicament. It was okay for her to stay with him and borrow his shirts, but there was no way her shirts were going to fit him.

She walked over to him and pulled his towel away from him. "How about we worry about that in the morning?" she said pushing him towards the bed mischievously.

* * *

_**So I wasn't a huge fan of this as I wrote it, but when I re read it, I decided that it was better than I thought. haha**_

_**Now if you're wondering about what paint they would use on skates that wouldn't be so bad to get on themselves, I don't know if there really is such a thing that wouldn't involve using some sort of harsh chemical to get it off the skin... but for the stories sake, let's pretend there is. **_

_**My new jeans came today! THEY ARE AWESOME. Funny story about when they arrived. I'd told my friend I was getting them, and so I messaged her excited that they had arrived, and she asked me to take a photo of my butt in them because all that matters is the back pockets and how your butt looks in them, apparently. Strange request? Yes it was, but I did it anyways. And I got the approval from her. Money well spent I say!**_


	45. Chapter 45

When Rick woke in the morning, it wasn't to the horrible alarm buzz he was expecting, but to Kate placing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Hey," Kate said softly as he opened his eyes and then she rested her arm on his chest and her chin on her arm so she could look up at him.

"Morning," he smiled.

"So, as much as I'm enjoying lying here with you, I have to get up and get ready for work," Kate said after a moment of just gazing into Rick's cheerful eyes.

"Did the precinct call?" Rick asked, surprised he had possibly slept through the phone ringing.

"No, but I still have to go in to work. They're expecting me at 8:30."

"Are you sure you can't call in sick?" he asked, stroking a finger down her naked spine.

"I wish I could. I would love to stay here in bed with you, but the team and I have a case that we need to solve, and I'd like to be there when we do."

"So, how long do you have?"

"Not long actually, and we still have your clothing situation to sort out." She placed a kiss on his chest and pushed herself back and off his body, turning and sitting on the edge of the bed. She pulled on a t-shirt she had nearby and then made her way over to the wardrobe to find herself clothing for work. First, she would shower and dress herself, then she would worry about Rick. She didn't want them both wandering around naked all morning because she knew that would only result in another round or two of what they would call 'morning exercise' and then she would definitely be late for work.

When Kate came out of the bathroom, fully dressed, she was surprised to hear Rick on his phone rattling off her address to whoever was on the line. She stood in the doorway, watching him until he hung up the phone.

"Problem solved," he said noticing her watching him.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Well, I have a friend who owns a clothing store. He's going to have some clothing delivered here in about fifteen minutes."

"Uh, and how did you explain the need for urgent clothing? I'm sure he's aware that this is not your address." she asked, worried that Rick had just shared the events of their evening with a stranger.

"What happens here, in our homes, stays between us. I simply told him I needed a favour for a friend. I said that your dad was coming into the city this morning from the country and you wanted to take him out somewhere fancy, but were afraid he wouldn't have the right clothing. So, they're sending something over. He doesn't even know they are for me. As far as he knows, I'm home at my own loft."

Kate was happy with his plan. It definitely wasn't something she would have considered doing, but then again, she didn't know any clothing store owners. "Fifteen minutes you said?" confirming she'd heard right.

"Yeah," he said moving his legs to the side of the bed to stand up.

"And you're just going to what? Wander around naked until he arrives?" Kate said. It wouldn't usually bother her, except for the fact that seeing him naked did all sorts of things to her body and she couldn't deal with that when she had to get ready for work.

"Is that a problem?" he smirked.

"Get a robe from the bathroom and then come help me with breakfast," she instructed. It wasn't the ideal situation, but at least he'd be covered.

* * *

The day went by rather quickly for Kate, and before she knew it, she was minutes away from finishing for the day. They'd solved the case, and she was just writing up the last of the reports when she was called downstairs where she had a visitor waiting.

Thinking it was just Rick, she told them just to send the visitor up to her, without even asking who it was. She got the shock of her life when a uniform escorted her visitor over to the desk.

"Meredith?" Kate said as the red head joined her at her desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Meredith started. "Alexis wouldn't stop talking about you last night, so I had to come by to meet you properly, before I go back home tonight."

"You're leaving already? Didn't you only just get here a couple of days ago?" Kate questioned.

"Oh yes, but there's an audition that I must get to back in LA. It's a busy life being an actress, there's just no time for rest."

Kate did her best not to scoff at the woman. She had to wonder if Meredith even knew what a busy life was like or if the only reason she was leaving so soon was because Rick wouldn't play their usual game this visit.

"I can only imagine," Kate responded a little sarcastically. "So, what can I do for you then?"

"I just have a few questions for you in regards to Alexis. I need to make sure she's being looked after…"

"I can assure you Meredith, Alexis is being looked after," Kate interrupted.

"But you'll answer my questions?" Meredith asked.

"Shoot." Kate didn't really have time for it, but she had a feeling Meredith was not going to take no for an answer.

"Right, so how long have you known Richard?"

"Meredith, I thought these were about Alexis?"

"Oh, they are. I'm getting there."

Kate took a deep breath to calm her frustration.

"A few months."

"And dating?"

"A few weeks."

"And sleeping together?"

"Excuse me! That is none of your business."

"Oh, but it is. I don't want my daughter walking in on something she doesn't need to see. And I know how Ricky can be, especially at the beginning of a relationship."

"I'm sorry Meredith, but if this is the type of question you are going to continue asking, then I will not be answering any more and I will have you escorted out."

"Okay, okay. Alexis then? Do you love her?"

"She's a great girl. Absolutely gorgeous and impossible not to love."

"Do you treat her like you would your own daughter?"

Kate wasn't sure how to answer this. If she said yes, she was worried Meredith would think she was trying to replace her. If she said no, Meredith would probably think Kate doesn't care for her the way she really did.

"Meredith, how about you stop with the questions and I'll just talk to you."

After a few seconds to think, Meredith agreed.

"Rick and I, our relationship, is still very new and I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I do see us together. I knew when I started this relationship that he had Alexis. In fact, I met Alexis before Rick. So, I knew what to expect. I knew that Rick came with his family. When I accepted Rick into my life, I accepted Alexis in too. So, at times, yes, I do treat her like a daughter, but she's also a friend. There are times when she'll need someone and if you're not here, then I want her to know she can come to me, but there are also other things that she's going to want to talk to her mother about, and for those, I will always send her to you first. Does that answer any further questions?"

Meredith hummed. "You know what, Rick was right. I owe you an apology."

Kate frowned in confusion.

"The other night," Meredith started, "when I just showed up unannounced. I should apologize for the things I said. I was wrong, and you know what, I think you'll be good for both Alexis and Rick. Sure, I'm sad that I wont get to have fun with him anymore when I visit, but I'll get over it. I'll find my fun elsewhere, if you know what I mean," she said with a wink and a laugh.

Kate wasn't sure how to really respond to her apology. It felt somewhat half-hearted, and when it finished with a joke, she didn't know how serious Meredith even was, but she didn't know her and maybe that was the best she could do. It was better than nothing so she accepted it.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you Kate. We'll have to catch up next time I'm in town. We can compare notes," she grinned.

Kate gave out a nervous laugh as Meredith pulled her in for a hug. It was a little awkward because Kate really hadn't expected it, and she still wasn't sure exactly what she thought of Meredith. She did know that she wouldn't be comparing notes with her, that was for sure.

"It was nice to meet you too," Kate said hoping that she could hurry the woman out.

A few minutes after Meredith had left, Kate had completed her reports and was finished for the day. She didn't even wait until she'd gotten into the elevator before calling Rick.

"You'll never guess who just came to visit me at the precinct," she said before he had a chance to even say hello.

"Uh, the president?" Rick guessed making Kate laugh.

"I wish. No, it was your ex wife!"

"Meredith?"

"Well, unless there's another ex wife that I don't know about, yes, of course, Meredith."

"No, there's definitely no others. One wife was a mistake, I didn't need another," he said before thinking about the words that were escaping his mouth.

It wasn't until he was met with complete silence from the other end of the phone that he even realised what he'd said.

"Oh, uh, I just meant…."

"It's fine," Kate said not really wanting to hear him try and unbury himself from what he'd just said and knowing she shouldn't really be getting upset about things like that anyway. It was much too soon to be thinking about marriage. They had both mentioned them wanting to be in each others future, but that's as far as things had gone.

"Kate," Rick's voice softened. "It doesn't mean I never want to be married again. Next time, I just want to be sure it's right. No rushing into anything like I did with Meredith, because next time I want it to be the forever kind of marriage."

Kate felt a smile grow on her lips. "Yeah, you mean that?"

"Of course I do." He almost felt like he was proposing without proposing. He hadn't mentioned that he expected that forever to be with Kate, but he knew they both wanted it. "So what did Meredith have to say?"

"Well, first she started asking personal questions, so I set her straight, and then she apologised for things she said the other night. I'm not sure exactly how sincere the apology was, but she tried."

"She didn't cause you too much grief then?" he asked.

"No."

"And what are you up to now?"

"Just about to head home actually."

"Want to join us for dinner?"

"I was actually going to go see dad before his AA meeting. I've barely seen him over the past few weeks."

"You should definitely do that then. But just don't forget, I'm still holding your overnight bag hostage until you come back to stay."

Kate laughed. "Holding my bag hostage Mr Castle? I guess that means you expect something from me before you'll give it back," she said in a low seductive voice.

"Detective Beckett, they taught you well at the police academy. All I request is your presence at my home one evening."

"Just one? Well I don't think that should be too difficult."

"I look forward to it."

Kate let out a small breathy laugh and rolled her eyes at the phone, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"You just rolled your eyes at me, didn't you?" Rick said.

"Uh, how did you know?"

"I just know you, that's all."

"Right. Well, I guess I should be going. I'll call you when I'm home from dinner."

"I'll be waiting," Rick answered in a song making Kate giggle. "Enjoy dinner with your dad. And Kate, he's doing really well. You should be proud of him."

"I am."

* * *

Kate arrived at the small café-restaurant and looked around for her father, but he didn't appear to be there, so she took a seat at their usual booth and waited.

She wasn't waiting long before her dad came through the door so she stood and waved him over. The first thing she noticed was the great smile he had on his face. He was just so much happier since being in rehab and it was such a relief to her. There was a time before he went into rehab where she had blamed herself for everything he was doing. She had constantly been telling herself she should have been there more for him, done more for him, and found answers for him. And even when she was doing everything she possibly could, it still wasn't enough. But now, she realised it wasn't that she wasn't trying hard enough, her being there and never giving up was what he needed and that's what she gave him. The rest was a decision he dad had to make himself. Knowing that she didn't have to worry about any of that anymore, made her feel better about everything.

He reached the table and Kate greeted him with a hug before they both took their seats opposite one another.

The first thing they talked about was Kate's work. Jim wanted to know how she was doing. He'd known about her injuries she sustained and asked about them and made sure she was okay.

"Katie, I know you're a grown woman now, but you know if you ever need anything, I'm here for you. If you're hurt and need someone to help, I'd be happy to do that for you. I know over the past few years I haven't really been there, and so you've learnt to be very independent, but I'm back now."

"I know. And it's okay, I had someone looking after me. I didn't do it all by myself this time," she said a little proud of herself.

"Rick helped you?"

"Yeah," Kate said with a smile.

"And you let him?" Jim said with wide eyes.

"Yeah," she laughed.

"You really have changed since meeting him then. Not as independent as you have been previously."

"Yeah, I'm learning that it's good to let someone help you out."

Jim nodded. "Well, that's good."

Before they were able to continue discussing Kate's work the young waitress came over to take their orders.

"So, how are you dad? You look great," Kate said when the waitress left.

"I feel great. I've only been to a few AA meetings, but my sponsor has been great. I've also been doing some counselling a couple of times a week. It's helping me to dig deep and get things out that are hidden deep within my thoughts. It's better to get them out with a trained professional because those things are often the things that may cause us to relapse. It's amazing the things they discover, I'm saying things I didn't even realise I was feeling. And Rick and I are still talking every 2 days so I'm being accountable to a number of people. "

"He said you were doing really well. You know what, I have to admit, I do find it weird that my dad and my boyfriend talk so often. I hope you don't talk about me."

"Mostly we talk about how our own lives are going, and you are part of both of our lives, so it would be difficult to stay away completely from talking about you, but it's nothing you should be worried about. He doesn't share any of the private stuff. I really don't want to know what you two are up to."

"Dad!" She didn't want her father thinking about what her and Rick got up to, and really didn't wish to talk about it either.

"What? I just mean that both Rick and I have boundaries for where a conversation will go."

"Okay, I'm glad"

They continued talking about how Jim's AA meetings and counselling sessions were going until their dinner came, and then found themselves reminiscing about other times they had eaten at the same café-restaurant. They even talked about memories involving Kate's mother, and both felt comfortable about it. There was no sadness there, simply happiness remembering the woman who meant the world to them both.

When it was almost time for Jim to leave to go to his meeting he took his watch from his wrist and placed it on the table in front of Kate.

"What's this for?" she asked, picking it up and looking at it.

"It's my watch, but I want you to have it."

"I know it's your watch, but I don't understand. You love this watch."

"I know. I felt like I needed to give you something to thank you for saving my life. For being there for me when I was at my worst, and nothing I could come up with was good enough. And then I thought of my watch. Your mother gave me that watch not long before we lost her, and I've barely taken it off since. The person who wore that watch was a lost man, and I'm not that man anymore, it's time for me to take it off. But the watch still means a lot to me, which is why I want you to have it. It'll remind you of the man that you saved."

Kate wiped away the tear that ran down her face.

"Thank you Katie, for saving me," he said reaching over to take her hand. "And Katie,"

"Hmmm…" Kate hummed.

"What you and Rick have is really special. Don't let him go, let him continue to take care of you. You've taken care of yourself and me on your own for long enough."

* * *

_**That was a completely unplanned chapter... I had no intention of putting any of that in there, but now that it's written, I'm glad I came up with it and added it in. I like it! haha**_

_**I feel a little bit slack right now, I should be working. I've barely done any today. Instead I spend the day picking up mail from the post office, going shopping, getting my eyebrows waxed, making caramel slice & peppermint slice, finished this chapter & edited this chapter. Somewhere in there I got a few hours of work done.**_

_**Oh, and so random story about my eyebrows. I booked an appointment, got there 5 mins early. Then 10 mins after my appt time was told it would be another 15 mins... 20 mins later, the manager had come in on her day off (it was her birthday) and she ended up taking me through and doing it for me. I wished her a happy birthday coz I'm nice like that lol. But anyways, the big lesson I learnt was that sometimes waiting patiently gets better results. My eyebrows look great! haha... and I have a feeling if I had gone to the other lady she wouldn't have made them look this good. So anyways... that's my lesson of the day! BE PATIENT... SOMETHING BETTER COULD BE JUST AROUND THE CORNER! lol  
**_


	46. Chapter 46

The next couple of days had gone by quickly. Kate picked up a new case on Wednesday afternoon, which kept her extremely busy and working late. Thursday was much the same, and Kate was once again unable to make their family dinner.

Usually with the late finishes, she would just go home, make her phone call to Rick and then sleep. This time however, knowing she had a bag at Rick's loft, she decided instead of going home, she'd just go stay with Rick. She hadn't told him she'd be coming, but she had a feeling he wouldn't mind and he'd always said she was welcome whenever. Maybe turning up after midnight was a little crazy, but she just needed to see his smile and feel his arms around her. Something about him just relaxed her, so even if she was only there for a few hours and all they did was sleep, she didn't care.

Rick was sitting in the office writing while he waited for Kate's evening call when there was a knock at the door. He knew his mother had gone out after dinner and figured she must have forgotten or lost her keys. When he opened the door to see not his mother, but Kate, on the other side he couldn't have been happier.

"I've come to save my bag," Kate said with a grin.

"Just in time. You're lucky you turned up when you did, I was just about to begin torturing it," Rick returned as he let Kate into the loft.

Kate stopped just inside the doorway as Rick closed the door behind them. "I hope you don't mind me just turning up. I know it's late, but I really wanted to see you."

"Of course not." Rick reached out for Kate's waist and pulled her closer to him. "I've always said you are welcome here any time, and I meant it."

They both smiled at one another and Rick briefly touched his lips to Kate's in a gentle kiss while running his hands down her arms, noticing immediately when her body relaxed leaning into him.

"So, how was work? Did you catch the killer?" he asked once they'd separated.

"Unfortunately not. This evening was hectic, actually the entire day was. All day we've been trying to find anything, but nothing is coming up. We still don't even have an ID."

"You'll find something," Rick said confidently. "I know you will."

Kate nodded. "I know we will eventually. It's just frustrating not knowing anything," she sighed.

"Are you tired?" Rick asked, joining his hand with Kate's and leading her through his office.

"Yeah, I am fairly tired. These long days can be difficult."

Rick had silently led them through to his bedroom. He hadn't asked Kate if she wanted to do anything before going to bed but, she looked and sounded tired, so he guessed she wouldn't want anything except sleep. He pulled her into his arms and embraced her tightly. It was difficult to know the words to say to her at a time like this, and he hoped his actions would be all the comfort and encouragement she would need.

"So, are you hungry? Or do you just want to sleep?" he said as she eventually pulled away.

"Hungry?" she asked, with raised eyebrows, thinking Rick was talking about something other than food. He had taken her straight to his bedroom, so she didn't think he was talking about food at all.

"For food," he added. "I wasn't sure if you'd had time to eat dinner."

She squinted her eyes at him, trying to decide whether she believed him.

"Kate Beckett!" he said, shocked. "Do you really think I'm the type of guy who…"

Kate didn't even let him finish his sentence. She knew what he was about to say, and she knew he wasn't that type of guy. She was actually a little shocked that she'd even allowed herself to think like that. "No," she interrupted. "I know you're not. But let's just say I've known guys like that. Actually I've known some that try to get things happening the moment they've opened the door, but you probably don't want to know about them. Sorry."

Rick kissed her forehead. "It's ok. And those guys, they were jerks. I don't know them, and I'm sure they had some good qualities," he said, not waiting Kate to think that he was accusing her of choosing terrrible guys, even if that really was what he thought. "But, I think a guy should be able to show a woman that he values her for more than that. A relationship should be about more than just sex. And you know what, I actually think when there is a trust and a value between two people, it just makes their relationship and their experiences together more meaningful and even more magical."

Kate pulled Rick towards her by his belt loops and then rested her head on his chest. "Magic," she whispered. "I like that we have that in our relationship."

"Me too," Rick said rubbing circles on her back as she rested against his beating heart. "So are you hungry? Would you like some food?" he said quietly into her ear, realising she had never really answered him.

"No, I'm good. I think all I need is sleep, if that's okay," she said finally pulling herself away from his chest realising she probably should lie down before going to sleep on him.

"It's more than okay. You don't realise just how happy I am that you turned up at my door, just to sleep and after midnight."

The truth was he was extremely happy that she had done just that. It showed him that she felt comfortable with him, that she didn't feel like she had to perform for him to want her around which meant she trusted him. It was a good feeling knowing he was trusted. Although he wasn't worried about it, the trust she had for him gave him a sense of security in their relationship. It felt stronger.

Kate and Rick both took turns using the bathroom and prepared themselves for sleep. Kate put on her t-shirt and shorts from her overnight bag, her very casual night wear while Rick stripped down to just his boxers. The last thing Kate had to do was wash off her make up and as she did so, Rick made himself comfortable on the bed.

Kate came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and laughed inwardly seeing Rick sprawled out, on his stomach, across his mattress. "If you're gonna take up the whole bed, I might have to go home. So, are you gonna let me in?" she asked, when she reached the bed.

Rick rolled himself over and made room for Kate to climb in, then climbed in under the covers himself shivering as the cold sheets hit his skin. "I was trying to warm up the bed so the sheets wouldn't have been so cold when you got in, but I guess I should have gotten under the covers to do that. I'll know better for next time," he said, wriggling around to make himself comfortable.

"No need for that. I've got all the warmth I need right here," Kate said as she rolled into his side and placed her hand over his chest.

Rick kissed the top of Kate's head and stroked his fingers through her hair. "I'm glad I can be of assistance," he said. "Sleep well Kate."

"Night Rick," Kate said placing a kiss to his bare chest, before nuzzling her head under his chin, wrapping herself tighter against him and tangling their feet.

A moment later Rick started humming something very softly. It was a tune that was quickly becoming quite familiar. Recognising it, Kate couldn't help but sing along.

"And I, I want to share all my love with you, no one else will do," she sang softly.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you're voice is?" Rick asked.

Kate didn't really respond she simply moved her head back slightly and Rick moved his so they could see each other's smiles.

"You know I always thought it was a little clichéd for couples to have a _song, _but with you, having a song just feels right. And that song, it's perfect. I don't want anyone else, just you."

"And you'll be a fool for me?" Kate said with a smile.

"Oh, you know I am."

He leaned down to catch her lips before she could respond. Kate didn't resist at all and simply allowed him to revel in the feel of their joined lips.

"I think it's a great song for us," she said as they parted. "I'd be a fool for you too."

She kissed him once more before nuzzling herself back under his chin.

"Goodnight Kate," Rick said closing his eyes.

Kate hummed her response already falling asleep in his arms, comfortable and happier than ever.

* * *

By midday on Friday Beckett and the team of detectives had finally found discovered the ID of their victim. Blythe took Beckett and a couple of other uniforms to the victims home to search for clues. They'd found a bunch of files covering an office desk and decided to take them back to the precinct, where they could go through them and find out if there was anything in them that could help lead them to their murderer.

After just a little bit of searching Kate discovered the woman had been an attorney in one of the large law firms in New York. It surprised her that it had taken them so long to get an ID because it seemed, looking through the files, that this woman was quite busy, and she thought someone would have realised she was missing and reported it sooner. Going through the files, she'd worked on some pretty big cases in the recent months. Any one of them could have led to her murder.

Kate gave one of the other detectives a bunch of names from the first pile of files she had gone through to look into and see if they could find anything. After making herself a coffee, she started to make work on the second pile of files. She was surprised to see that these files were not so recent. The first few she read were from five or six years prior. Knowing there must have been a reason for the files to be out at the victims house, she did as she had been told and continued to make her way through the files.

"Found anything in those files Beckett?" Captain Montgomery asked putting his head into the conference room where Kate had spread out the files.

"Uh, I'm not sure. These files are all fairly old. I'm not sure there's going to be much here," she responded. "But I'll keep going through them. Hopefully something will show up somewhere."

"Good work. You know we need to look into everything we can. The thing we don't look into could be the one thing we need to solve a case."

Kate nodded. "I understand sir."

"Let me know if you find anything," he said and then started heading for the door to leave Kate to continue reading through the files. "Oh, and Beckett. The files wont be going anywhere over night and you've been staying late a lot lately, don't think I haven't noticed. So, have an early one tonight. Get some rest and you can continue going through files fresh in the morning."

"Yes sir," Kate said. It was still early afternoon, so she had a few more hours to do some reading, but she was thankful that she wasn't expected to stay all night.

After reading through a few more files Kate was beginning to find it all a little tedious and begain thinking now would be a good time for Rick to be there. Surely he'd be able to bring some fun to the less interesting parts of the job. He'd probably be able to come up with some crazy theories and stories about each of the cases represented in the files.

She almost laughed when her phone buzzed beside her with a message from Rick. It was like he must have known she was thinking of him.

_'So I noticed something interesting today. As I walked out of my bathroom I noticed a bag in the corner of my room. I knew the bag didn't belong to me, and that's when I realised. Kate Beckett, you left your bag behind again.'_

Kate laughed. She'd done it on purpose and was wondering how long it would take him to notice and say something. There really wasn't much in it, but just the idea of having the bag at his house, in his bedroom, excited her. She felt like it was her way of showing Rick how much she wanted in their relationship, that she enjoyed spending time with him, and spending evenings with him.

_'Oh did I? Silly me! I guess that means you're going to be holding it hostage again?' _she responded.

_'It seems that the NYPD need to give you some more training in hostage situations. Seriously, who does what the captor asks and then leaves without the hostage?'_

Kate laughed out loud at his response.

_'You're right. How about you give me another chance to collect the hostage?"_

_'I think we can work that out. Dinner tonight?'_

_'Pick me up from the precinct at 5:30? Unless I find something soon in these files I'm going through, I've been instructed to have an early night.'_

_'I'll see you then.'_

Kate bit her bottom lip thinking about the possible events that would occur that night. Looking at the time she was now hoping the next few hours went by really quickly.

She very quickly got back to the files in front of her reading her way through them looking for any names or anything that stood out. She also looked for cases that could be linked to the recent files that she had already been through.

About half way through her second pile a name stood out. It was not the name she had expected to see, and when she saw it her hands began to shake holding the paper out in front of her.

There, right in front of her eyes, was her mother's name, Johanna Beckett, on a document that her victim had in her home.

She picked up the next file and again, Johanna Beckett was mentioned.

The next four pages she picked up all had her mothers name on them and her heart began to race. Her hands began shaking violently and she began hyperventilating. This woman, their victim, appeared to have taken over a bunch of her mothers cases after she was murdered. It had been more than five years since the fateful day her mother was taken from them, but now, Kate couldn't help but wonder if this new murder was connected in some way to her mothers.

Everything hit her all at once, and it was too much. She couldn't take it. She thought she was ready, she thought she would be okay to deal with something like this when it came up. She thought she'd come to terms with maybe never having the answers but now, with possible leads in front of her she realised, she wasn't ready to move on from it. She wasn't ready to give up on her mother. She had to find out what was going on, she had to find a connection. She had to find her mothers killer!

* * *

_**It's just one thing after the other for this couple... poor thing!**_

_**I'm cutting it fine to get this in before the end of the day... 10 mins of my day left. **_

_**So just a quick story for today... my housemate went away for the weekend and forgot to tell me! I'm home alone all weekend :( **_


	47. Chapter 47

Kate dropped everything onto the table in front of her. She wanted to find this killer, but right now she needed air, she needed space. She couldn't stay in the precinct with this in front of her. There was too much running through her mind. Did her mother once know their victim? Did this murder have something to do with her mothers? Was it the same person that killed this new victim? Her mother had been stabbed and so had their new victim. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

Without stopping to talk to anyone or tell them where she was going she ran out of the conference room and didn't even bother waiting for the elevator. She sprinted to the fire stairs hearing a couple of cops shout out her name, but she ignored them. There was just too much noise in her head. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to be alone.

She ran down the stairs and out the doors and didn't stop until she was a few blocks away from the precinct and could run no further. She found herself walking down the street aimlessly with tears streaming down her face. A number of people glanced at her, some more than once, but nobody said anything or stopped. They were all too busy going about their own lives. It was probably the one time she couldn't have been more pleased about people's self-absorbed natures. The last thing she needed was for people to start questioning her in the middle of the sidewalk.

Kate just kept on walking, she wasn't exactly sure where her feet were taking her, nor did she care. She just wanted to find a place she could curl up in a ball away from everyone and everything. She thought about going home, it would be quiet and empty there, but she knew people would eventually find her and she didn't want that.

Before she realised where she was going she found herself in the alley where her mother was found dead many years earlier. Being quiet and empty, it was exactly what she had been looking for but, at the same time, it was the last place she wanted to be. She leant back against a wall and covered her face with her hands breaking down once again and the tears wouldn't stop falling. Her legs collapsed underneath her and she found herself crouched down on the floor with her head in her knees.

When she looked up everything around her seemed black and distant. All the noises and the lights, it was like none of it was real. All she could see were the pictures of her mother's body, lying before her, blood pouring from the stab wounds. No matter where she looked, all she saw was blood. Her ears were filled with screams for help, her mother's screams. All of that was soon drowned out and was replaced with images of her drunken father, a bottle in each of his hands, breaking down in the hall of her apartment building as he had done so many times over the past few years.

It was incredible how quickly the events of the past couple of months no longer felt real. Kate felt like she'd been living a dream and now sitting in that alley way she was finally awake again. This was real life, this was her life, the life that she had lived before her father sobered up, before Rick, before the Hamptons, and before love. Rocking back and forth, she felt like she had no control over her body. She couldn't stop the visions, the thoughts, the sounds. No matter how much she wanted to or how much she tried, she couldn't get away from it and all she had seen was her mothers name on documents that a murder victim had. It was unbelievable how little it took to get her back to this place.

Kate tried to think of anything but her mothers murder, she tried to think of Castle. She knew she should call him, get him to come pick her up, but she felt frozen on the spot. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to get any words out to tell him where she was even if she did call.

Her phone rang a few times in her pocket, and she guessed it was the precinct. Without looking to see who it was, she managed to pick it up with a shaky hand and turned it off. She couldn't deal with that on top of everything else.

* * *

Rick arrived at the precinct a little before 5:30, thankful that he had thought ahead and left a little earlier than he would usually need to. He knew there would be a lot of traffic at that time of day and he didn't want to be late. If he was late it would mean he'd have less time to spend with Kate and he wanted as much time as possible with her.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been unable to find a parking place in front of the precinct and had to park a couple of blocks away. He calmly walked the distance to the precinct and went straight up to the homicide floor. The guys at the front desk had remembered him visiting previously so didn't even attempt to stop him which he was glad about.

When he got to Beckett's desk he was surprised to see she wasn't there. Looking around he couldn't see her, so he checked the break room but it was empty. He then thought that maybe they had caught a break and she was in the interrogation room or out picking up a suspect. He thought it was strange though that she hadn't texted or called him to tell him, especially when she was expecting him to pick her up.

Rick tried calling her but the phone went straight to voicemail so he thought she was obviously busy. He sat down at Kate's desk and decided to wait for her to return. He didn't recognise any of the cops that were in the bullpen so he chose not to bother them. It was only a few minutes later that Blythe came out of the elevator. Rick recognised him immediately and was a little confused when Kate wasn't with him.

"Detective Blythe?" Rick said walking over to where Blythe had seated himself at his desk.

"Mr Castle, uh, I didn't know you were coming in. Beckett's not here."

"I know, I was just about to ask you where I could find her. I was supposed to be picking her up."

"Oh, well, actually. She ran out of here a few hours ago. She looked pretty distraught. A couple of uniforms tried to follow her but, that woman is quick in those heels. When she didn't come back I thought she would have gone to you."

As Blythe spoke, all the joy and excitement left Rick's body and his face dropped. "What?"

"We, uh, we thought she'd be with you. We tried calling a few times, but her phone seems to be off now."

"So, what you're saying is, you don't know where she is?"

"Uh, yeah," Blythe said, suddenly realising that maybe he should have tried harder to contact her or to find her after she had run out.

Rick immediately pulled out his phone and tried calling Kate once more, but again, it went straight to voicemail.

"Kate, where are you? Call me back as soon as you get this," he said, leaving a message. He wasn't sure when or if she'd get it but he had to try.

As Rick was leaving his message, Blythe found a spare chair and pulled it over for Rick. He couldn't believe he had let his new detective run out and hadn't followed her. It was obvious when she left that something was wrong, but he thought she would be fine, that she'd go deal with it, talk to her boyfriend and be back in the morning. It was obvious now that he had been completely wrong about her.

After leaving the message on Kate's phone, Rick shook his head at Blythe putting his phone away. His worry was now beginning to mix with anger.

"How could you just let her run out like that? Did you even try to follow her at all?"

"Mr Castle," Blythe said hoping his soft tone would calm Rick down. "As I said a couple of uniforms did, but she was too fast. I'm sorry we didn't try harder, I thought she'd go to you."

"Well, you thought wrong!"

"How about you sit down and we'll figure this out," he said gesturing to the chair he'd pulled over. "We've got systems, we'll figure out where she is."

Rick pushed himself away. "I'm not staying here waiting for you to find her. You've had all afternoon and have done nothing. I'm going out there myself."

"You don't even know where to start looking."

Rick sighed. It was true. Kate could be anywhere. Then he realised maybe she had just gone home. So holding on to hope of finding her safe, well and quickly he immediately called her home phone, but there was no answer and all his hope had gone again.

"What was she doing before she ran out of here?" he asked, determined to find out exactly what it was that caused her to run off.

"Uh, just some files we found in a victims house," Blythe said pointing to the files now tidied in the conference room.

"Do you mind if I take a look? Maybe I'll find what she saw that made her run," Rick said calmly. He still wasn't happy at the lack of response Blythe and the other detectives had when Kate had just rushed out, but he knew allowing his anger to burst through was not going to help find her.

The detective shrugged. "If you think it'll help."

Rick pulled open the file that was sitting on top and noticed immediately what it was that would have made her run. He took the file to Detective Blythe and held it out to him.

"Have you seen this?" he said.

"Uh, no, Beckett was going through those files."

"And you didn't think to take a look at them when she left."

"No, I was following up on other leads. Look, I know you're worried, but Kate's a big girl. I'm sure she's fine."

So much for Detective Blythe being a good detective. Rick thought the guy was just lazy.

"Take a look," Rick said pushing the file in front of the detectives face.

Blythe scanned the document and then looked up at Rick unsure what he was looking for.

"Do you not see it?" Rick said.

"What am I supposed to see?"

"The name."

Blythe shook his head and re read the file. "Johanna Beckett?" he asked. "Is that someone related to Detective Beckett."

Rick raised his eyebrows. "Is that someone related to Detective Beckett?" he repeated dumbfounded. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Blythe nodded slowly. He was at a complete loss. He didn't know anything about Beckett's personal life. He made sure to stay out of the other detective's lives and didn't think it was his place to pry.

"Johanna Beckett is Kate's mother. She was murdered years ago. The case was never solved."

The look on Detective Blythes face told Rick that it was the first he had heard of Kate's mothers death.

"We need to find her," Rick said. "You do what you can here. I'll call her father, and then I'm going out to the street. I wont give up until I know she's okay."

Rick quickly called Jim and did his best not to worry him too much. He simply told him that her phone was off, and didn't mention that he had been to the precinct or mention the file with Johanna's name in it. The last thing he wanted was for Jim to begin worrying too.

As Castle made his way onto the elevator he bumped into the Captain who had been in meetings for most of the afternoon since seeing Beckett earlier.

"Hey Rick, hows it going?" he said cheerfully.

"Kate's gone. We need to find her," Rick said. It was all he could get out before the elevator doors closed him off from the captain and the rest of the homicide floor.

When the doors closed Rick laid his head back on the wall. It didn't even look like the captain was aware of what had happened. Surely, if he had known he would have done more. The captain had seemed like a great guy when Rick had met him previously. Rick trusted that once the captain had been filled in on what was going on, he would make sure Kate was found.

* * *

Kate had no idea how long she'd been sitting balled up leaning against the wall in the alley. The tears had stopped a while ago, and she had a feeling it was only because she had nothing left to cry. Her body was numb and weak. She felt like she barely had any energy to even move herself. She knew by now Rick was probably searching for her and she knew the right thing to do would be to call him, but she was fighting it. She didn't even know what she would say to him.

She tried standing, making the decision to at least get up off the dirty floor and get a cab back to the precinct. She would figure out what to do from there. Using the wall for stability she stood up and took a deep breath, ready to make her way out of the alley.

She'd taken barely a few steps when she saw someone making their way towards her.

"Detective Beckett?" the figure called out.

She didn't respond, she just stood still where she was trying to figure out who was walking towards her.

"Detective Beckett, is that you?" the man said getting closer.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, that's me," she said softly.

The man pulled out a radio transmitter and quickly sent a message through confirming Beckett had been found.

"I'm sorry," Kate said. "Who are you?"

"Officer Esposito," the guy said. He was a uniform cop but one that Kate had never seen before. "I'm from the 54th. You know they've got uni's looking for you all over the city. At least one from each precinct sent out to search their areas."

"Sorry," Kate said quietly and slightly embarrassed that so many cops were out looking for her. "I didn't mean to cause such a fuss." She had expected maybe a couple of people to be looking for her, but she didn't expect other precincts to join in the search. "Did they really ask all the precincts to send someone to come looking for me?"

"Yeah, when the mayor calls to say they want someone out looking, you don't say no."

"The mayor?" Kate said shocked.

Detective Esposito nodded. "You know him?"

"No," Kate shook her head. "I don't. But, I think I may know someone who does."

"Well, that someone must really care for you if they managed to convince the mayor to get everyone on the case."

"Yeah," she said softly.

"So, how about I get you home?"

"Thanks."

The officer helped Kate to his patrol car and asked for an address. Without even a second thought, Kate gave him the address of Rick's loft. Even though she wasn't sure what she would say to him, how she would explain her behaviour or even if she wanted to talk at all, she knew she'd be safe there. She also knew he'd want her with him because he had obviously been worried, especially if he'd called the mayor.

A few minutes later Esposito had dropped Kate to the apartment building. He offered to walk her into the building and to her apartment but she eventually convinced him she didn't need him to and they agreed on him waiting until she had entered the building before leaving.

Kate nodded her hello to Tony at the door before he told her that he had seen Rick leave earlier but had not yet returned. He couldn't be sure, however, if Alexis and Martha would be home, so she went up to find out for herself.

When she got to Rick's door, she didn't know if she even wanted to go inside, especially if Rick wasn't there. Rather than knocking on the door, she reached for her phone and turned it on. She'd had multiple text messages and a number of voicemail messages which she guessed would be mostly from Rick, so she ignored them and immediately went to call him.

"Kate," he answered. "I'm so glad you called. I got a call to say an officer found you. Where are you?"

"I'm outside your door," she said softly.

"I'll be there soon. I'm two blocks away. Don't go anywhere."

"I won't."

"And Kate," he added before hanging up.

"Yeah,"

"I'm here for you, whatever you need."

"Thanks Rick."

* * *

_**Random appearance of Esposito lol... I wonder if I can fit a random Ryan appearance in there somewhere too. **_

_**Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and thought to yourself... "I look goooooooooood!" I totally did that today. I had my new jeans and shoes on and can I just say... My jeans look HOT! **_

_**Now, I'm hungry! But I can't be bothered making dinner. Who wants to come feed me? **_

_**Oooh and I meant to say the other day... 500+ follows! THAT IS INSANE! Thanks guys!**_


	48. Chapter 48

Rick ran into his building and cursed when the elevator took its time coming down to pick him up. He just wanted to get up to Kate as quickly as possible.

As soon as he was out of the elevator he saw Kate sitting by his door holding her knees to her chest.

"Kate," he called out as he ran towards her.

Kate lifted her head and the first thing Rick noticed was a look of sadness in her eyes. It didn't matter that she was trying to smile for him, he could see straight through it. He crouched down in front of her and placed his hands over hers on her knees.

"Hey," he said stroking circles over her hands. "It's going to be okay." He moved to take hold of her hands and stood up, pulling her up with him. "C'mon, let's get you inside."

Kate stood with him as Rick pulled her up but instead of moving to go inside she flew into his chest. Rick wrapped his arm around the woman who was still clearly affected by what she had seen on the reports earlier in the day as she rested her head on his shoulder. After a minute or so, he knew he had to get them inside. He gently moved to her side keeping his arm behind her back and she adjusted her head so it was more comfortable on his shoulder and they went inside.

"I'll make you some dinner, you go sit down and relax," he said after kissing her temple.

"I'm not hungry," she said, not leaving his side.

"Kate, you need to eat something. How about I just make us some cheese toasties?"

Kate nodded. She didn't want to argue, and Rick was right. She did need to eat, she hadn't eaten much during the day. However, instead of going to sit down, she followed Rick into the kitchen, not wanting to be away from him.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the stainless steal fridge and suddenly realised she probably looked shocking. She'd cried so much she expected that her eyes were undoubtedly still red and puffy and her skin blotchy. Rick had been really sweet though and hadn't said anything.

"I'm sorry, Rick," she said, watching him as he took the cheese from the refrigerator and then looked down at the floor to hide her face from him. "I must look terrible."

Rick put the cheese down on the bench and placed one hand on Kate's shoulder and the other under her chin to lift her face to look up at him.

"You could never look shocking to me," he said, and caressed her lips with a gentle touch of his own. "But if you want to go freshen up, I'll be right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Kate nodded gently and went to the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later, with her make up washed off and wearing the shorts and top she had worn to bed the night before. She walked behind Rick as he was finishing the cheese toasties, wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his shoulder blade for a moment. When he picked up the plate with the toasties, she let him go, allowed him to take her by the hand and over to the lounge chair.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Rick said once they were comfortable.

Kate shook her head.

"It might help."

Kate shook her head again, "I can't."

"I saw the documents, I know it mustn't have been easy to see what you did," Rick said placing his hand on Kate's knee.

"Rick, I can't talk about it."

"Can't? Or don't want to?"

Kate was silent for a few seconds. "I guess, a bit of both. Not yet. I just, I need some time to work some things out."

Rick was aware that Kate had a tendency to bottle up her feelings and often held on to them much longer than she should, so he really wanted her to talk. At the same time however, he didn't want to push her. It had been a difficult day for her and he didn't want to be the one to make it worse. He wanted to try and make it better in any way he could. If that meant not pushing and giving her some space, he would do that. He would get her to talk eventually, she had to. She'd opened up to him before, he was sure she would open up to him again.

They ate their toasties quietly until Kate spoke up again.

"I shouldn't have run away today," she said.

Rick turned to face her and let her talk, offering his ears to her.

Kate wasn't ready to talk about what it was she found, and how it made her feel, but she did feel the need to apologise for running.

"I'm sorry for running. When I read the documents. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to be at the precinct, and I didn't want to have to deal with anything, so I ran. I should have called you. I should have called anyone but I just wanted to be alone."

Rick rested his arm over Kate's shoulders and pulled her body close. "You know you can call me anytime."

"I know." She paused and nuzzled into his side. "Thank you Rick, for being here."

"Always," he whispered softly. "How about we go get some sleep?"

Kate nodded. "Sleep sounds good."

"I'll just go check on Alexis and then I'll come join you."

He'd left his daughter with his mother when he left earlier to pick up Kate and hadn't been there to put her to bed, so he just wanted to see her. It didn't matter what was going on in his life, seeing his little girl always brought joy to his heart.

"Can I come?"

Rick looked confused, "To check on Alexis?"

Kate slightly smiled. "Yeah." She knew seeing the innocence in the young girl may help her feel a little better.

"Come on,' he said holding his hand out to Kate.

Rick entered Alexis's room, made sure she was tucked in and then kissed her on the forehead while Kate watched from the doorway. Seeing Rick with his daughter reminded her of when she was younger. There were nights when her parents would come and check on her and she would pretend to be asleep. They were some of her favourite memories, feeling her father's lips on her forehead or hearing her mother's whispers in her ear and then knowing they stood back and watched her sleep. It was one of those family moments where everything just seemed perfect. Watching Rick and Alexis felt like one of those moments too. Then Rick reached his hand out to pull Kate into the room and held her to his side as he watched his daughter sleep for a moment, and her heart melted. Rick and Alexis were becoming more like family every day.

* * *

Sometime during the early hours of the morning Rick woke to find Kate sobbing beside him. She'd turned her body away from him and it was obvious she was trying to be silent. He didn't want to frighten her so he slowly rolled towards her and ran his hand over her back, onto her shoulder and down her arm.

"Hey, Kate," he said softly. "What's wrong?"

She sniffled but didn't say anything. She wasn't used to having someone there for her in the middle of the night when she woke up after having a nightmare.

"Kate," Rick said again. "Please, I want to help. How can I help?"

"I'm fine."

"Kate, you're not fine. Look at me. Talk to me," he said running his hand up and down her arm.

Slowly she turned to look at him. It was dark so he couldn't see her well, but there was just enough light to see she had tears in her eyes.

Rick reached out and wiped the tears from under her eyes.

"What can I do?"

"I don't know. I've never done this with someone before."

"You've never done what?" he questioned softly.

"Dealt with the nightmares. They don't happen often, but every now and then something triggers them. I'm usually alone when it happens so I'll go find something else to take my mind off of them. But this time, you're here. I didn't want to wake you, but I also didn't want to leave you. I'm sorry I woke you, I didn't mean to."

"Hey, I'm glad I woke up for this. You shouldn't have to do this alone," he said tracing the outline of her face with his fingers and pushing the hair away from her face. "Your nightmares. Are they about your mother?" Rick asked.

"Mmhmm," Kate hummed in response.

Rick didn't know what to do. He'd dealt with Alexis's nightmares but they were usually about dragons or monsters being under her bed and were easy to deal with. But Kate's nightmares, they were real, he couldn't just look under the bed and make it all okay. Instead he did the only thing he could do, he pulled her close into his body and held her there. She finally let herself go in his arms, the tears began to fall and once they started she couldn't stop.

Rick felt there was nothing more he could do than simply be there for her, so he continued to hold her close stroking circles over her back as she let out the tears. He whispered encouraging and loving words into her ear until her tears began to subside, and eventually she fell back to sleep on Ricks chest.

Rick took a deep breath before closing his eyes and going back to sleep himself. He had a feeling the next few days were going to be difficult for Kate. Working on the current case was going to be difficult, and he began to wonder if there was something more he could do. Maybe he could be there more for her at the precinct. The captain knew him, all he had to do was talk to him and he was sure he'd be allowed in. Then again, maybe what Kate really needed was to be taken off the case. If this is how it was going to affect her, she shouldn't have been working on it. He decided he would work things out I the morning, at that moment he just needed to sleep.

* * *

Rick woke in the morning to find a completely different Kate walking out of his ensuite freshly showered, dressed and ready to go to work. The pain and hurt was no longer showing on her face and it had been replaced with determination, but he had a feeling it was all an act.

"Morning," Kate said, seeing him sitting himself up in bed. She made her way to the end of the edge of the bed, leant over him and gave him a chaste kiss before walking towards the bedroom door. "Would you like a coffee?"

"Uh, yeah," Rick replied. He watched as the woman who had been so broken just a few hours earlier acted as if there was nothing wrong. It was almost like yesterday hadn't happened for her. It felt so wrong and he knew he had to do something about it. He wasn't going to let Kate push everything down like it didn't mean anything. He wasn't going to let her pretend nothing was wrong. He didn't want to see her building barriers and walls around her heart to stop herself from being hurt like she had done before. She needed to realise that she wasn't alone and he would do anything to try and help her see it.

Realising that he was still sitting in his bed and Kate was already dressed and in the kitchen Rick jumped out of bed, pulled on a t-shirt and went to the kitchen himself.

"Kate, you don't need to do this," he said.

"What? Make coffee?" Kate said turning to look at him. "It's fine. I don't mind making my own coffee."

She carried the two mugs over to the counter and placed one in front of Rick.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," Rick said looking at her seriously.

"Then what?" she asked.

"You know what Kate. You should take the day off. Spend the day with me, talk to me about what you found. You can't just hide it and think everything is going to be okay. You can't just pretend yesterday didn't happen."

"Rick," Kate started but he put his finger to her lips stopping her.

"No, I know you're going to tell me you need to go, and you're going to tell me you're not hiding from everything. But Kate you are. Last night, you were a mess."

Kate shot him a look that told him she didn't like being called a mess.

"A beautiful mess," he added softly caressing her cheek with his hand. "But still a mess. And now this morning, you're acting like nothing happened."

She reached up and took his hand away from her face, and took a step back from him. "It's a new day Rick. Yesterday is behind me, and now it's time to get out there and do my job."

"But Kate, you need to talk about this. We need to talk about last night."

"No, we don't. I just need to go find a killer," Kate said walking around the loft and gathering her bits and pieces for the day.

Rick followed wherever Kate went. He wasn't going to let her go if he could help it. "Kate, think about it for a minute. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if you took the day off? Let the other detectives see what they can find. I know what you found yesterday, and I know what you're thinking. This case you're working on could be linked to your mothers. That's a lot to deal with and I don't want to see you getting lost in it, I don't want to see this case swallow you up."

"It won't"

"But how do you know that?"

"I just know."

"Kate, please, just listen to me," he begged, reaching out for her hand, but she snatched it away.

"I have to get to work," she said. Leaving her coffee sitting on the bench she started making her way to the door.

"No, Kate," Rick went after her and grabbed her arm turning her to face him. "I can't let you do this."

"Rick, let me go," she said. She knew if he kept her there much longer she wasn't going to be able to hold in the tears.

"No. You've been working almost non-stop Kate. You need to take a day to work things through. I'm sure the team can work without you for a day. They'll understand. They can work the case without you."

"It's my job Rick."

"But it's not _just_ your job. There's a whole team who can work on it. What happens when you find more links to your mother? You ran away from it all yesterday Kate, you couldn't deal with it and you ran. It obviously brought things up for you. It obviously upset you. What made you run? Are you going to run again? Talk to me, let's do this together. The other detectives will find out what they can, and we'll go from there."

"No Rick, you don't understand."

"No, I don't. I don't know why you are acting like nothing is wrong or why you are acting like nothing happened. Please Kate, help me understand."

"This isn't just about this case Rick. This could be about my mother's case. I can't just let someone else work on it. I've done that over the past five years and look where it's gotten them. Absolutely nowhere. I can't let my mom down. I have to do this for her."

"But Kate, you don't have to do it like this, on your own. Let me help you."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I just can't"

Rick was at a loss, he had no idea what to do and was fighting to stop the tears from falling. He could see they were already welling in Kate's eyes and the last thing they needed was for the two of them to lose it completely. He had to stay strong, he had to show Kate that he could deal with this, that he was not going to let her lose herself in the case.

"Please," he begged. "Don't go in today. Let me just hold you close, let me be there, let me help you, just…" he paused, " just let me love you."

Kate closed her eyes and a couple of tears fell down her cheek as she took a deep breath.

Rick took a step closer and wiped away the tears from her cheek. "You had nightmares about this last night Kate. Just holding you, I felt almost useless. I wanted to be able to do more for you, to keep you from feeling this. I can't bring your mom back, I can't make it better. The best I can do is talk you through it, and help you realise your life is about more than this, so please, stay with me. You don't have to do this. You don't have to face this when you're not ready."

"Rick," Kate said with a shaky voice. "I wish I could stay. But I can't. This is the case that could bring me closer to my mother's killer. I have to be there. I have to find answers."

"Let me come with you. I'll talk to the captain. I'll work the case with you. I can help, I know I can. And then when things get too much for you, I'll be right there."

Kate shook her head. "I'm sorry Rick, I," she paused as another tear fell down her face. "I can't do this right now. I need to get to work, I need to work on this case and I can't focus on that _and_ you right now. Me like this, this isn't what you need right now. Let me figure this out alone, let me have some space. Just give me a few days, okay."

"Kate, don't do this. Don't go, please," he begged again. He knew he was losing her to the case.

Kate didn't stop or turn back to Rick until she reached the door. She opened it and just before closing it behind her, she finally turned back to Rick. "Just give me a few days Rick. I'll call you."

She closed the door behind her before she could see the look on his face. She knew she'd hurt him, and she hadn't wanted to. She'd hoped that her cheerful act when she'd woken would be enough to keep him from worrying, but he had seen straight through it. She wished she knew how to let him in, in the way that he wanted her to, but she couldn't do it. She'd never been able to. She was the type of person who liked to deal with things on her own first. She was worried that things were just going to get worse for her over the next few days and she didn't want to drag Rick into that. She loved him more than anything, trusted him completely but she was worried that if he saw just how messed up she really was, he would leave.

Rick watched as Kate closed the door. Both his head and his heart were telling him to run after her, to stop her, but his feet wouldn't move. It was almost like they had been glued to the spot. He squeezed his eyes closed to stop the tears from falling. He would give her space for a few days. He didn't want to push, he'd already pushed her too far. He just hoped that she would realise how much she needed him, and would be back within a day.

When Rick opened his eyes again he noticed Alexis sitting on the stairs, watching him. "Alexis?"

As soon as she heard her name, Alexis stood up, ran to her father and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry daddy," she said.

Rick stroked his fingers through his daughters hair. "What for pumpkin? You've done nothing wrong."

"You're upset. I heard you and Kate so I came out and saw Kate leave. I'm sorry. She'll come back, wont she?"

Rick placed a kiss to his daughters head, "I hope so, I really do hope so," he sighed.

* * *

_**Does anyone know how to catch Gremlins? I'm pretty sure there are some that keep coming to make my room a mess! Seriously, it's clean for a day then it's a mess again. I just don't get it :( **_

_**So I spent a lot of yesterday and today asking myself "What am I doing with my life?" I'm beginning to feel old and I need to figure out what I'm doing with myself. I know what I want, but the question is... is that what I really need? DEEP! haha**_

_**Anyways... I hope you enjoyed this chapter... I apologise to those who wanted Kate to open up straight away, I just don't think she would... :) **_

_**Also, nobody came to make me food the other day, so I'm still hungry! Looks like I'll have to feed myself!**_


	49. Chapter 49

Kate took the subway into work and got off a stop early. After everything that had just happened with Rick, she needed the fresh air. She needed to clear her mind. She felt bad for leaving things the way she did, but she knew she couldn't drag him into this. She had to sort herself out, get herself back together. Rick had already been through enough with Alexis being sick and then Meredith coming to town. He needed a break from all the drama, so she was going to give him that break.

She arrived at the precinct, and plastered a smile on her face. She knew she was bound to get a variety of looks as she walked in after the way she had just run out the previous day, but she was determined not to let it get to her.

When she made it up to the homicide floor, she was immediately called into the captain's office.

"Detective Beckett," Montgomery started. "Please take a seat."

"Sir, I know why you've called me in here," Kate said, sitting down. "But I can assure you, I'm fine and I'm ready to work."

"Detective Blythe mentioned you found your mothers name in some old legal files that were found in the home of our current victim. Is that right?"

"Yes sir."

"And that's what made you run out of here yesterday?"

"Yes sir. It looks like she may have taken some of my mothers cases when she," Kate paused, "Well, when she was murdered and couldn't finish them herself."

"Look, I'm going to be completely honest. I don't think that you should continue working on this case."

"If this has anything to do with my mothers case, I want to be working on it sir. I need to be working on it. This is why I became a cop. So I could finally put my mothers death to rest. I can be professional. I won't let it affect me like that again," she said determined.

"Beckett, it doesn't just work like that. You can't just switch off what you're feeling."

"I know sir, but I can assure you, that I'm not running from this anymore. You know this is what I've wanted for more than five years. I want to catch the bastard that killed my mother so I can just get on with my life."

"If you're sure you can handle this then I will not take you off the case, but I will be watching you closely, and the minute it begins to get too much, or you get too close to it, I'm taking you off. Do you understand? "

"Yes, thank you Captain."

"Also, I have briefed Blythe on the details of your mothers murder. He knows to look for anything that may link the two cases. I'm not positive there is a link, but if there is, we will find it."

Kate nodded.

"And Beckett, if you find anything more about your mothers case yourself, or you feel like you can't work on the case, you come straight to me. No keeping these things to yourself. That isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Will do," she responded.

"Well, I do believe there are some more files waiting for you. Keep me updated."

"Thank you again. I'll let you know if I find anything more," Kate said standing and making her way out of the office and into the conference room where the files were waiting.

She knew going through the rest of the files could be difficult but she was determined to make it through the day without any more tears or running so, she sat down and pulled over the first file, took a deep breath, opened the documents and started reading. She could do this. She was ready. It's what she had been waiting for.

The entire day was spent going through file and file, document after document paying close attention to each and every detail. She opted out of going into a few interrogations and interviews with Blythe as she just wanted to continue looking for anything she could in the files that linked to her mother.

At 10pm, Detective Blythe stopped by the conference room on his way home and was surprised when Kate was still sitting there with the files spread out on the table in front of her.

"Detective Beckett, it's time to go home. Go get some rest, those files will still be there tomorrow."

"I haven't finished here. I'll go once I've read all of these files," she replied, not even lifting her head from the papers held in front of her face.

"Beckett, go home. We can't do anything more tonight." When Kate made no move to get up, he asked, "Kate, Captain Montgomery has made it clear that he doesn't want you getting too caught up in this case. Would you like me to call someone for you to come pick you up? Mr Castle perhaps?"

"No," Kate said quickly. "No, don't call him. I'll just finish this page."

Blythe thought her reaction was strange but once again, he didn't like to pry into other peoples lives. He simply waited as she finished the file and watched as she put the file back in a pile and he walked with her out of the precinct.

* * *

Rick had waited with his phone by his side all day waiting and hoping to hear anything from Kate. She asked for a few days space, and he was going to give it to her, even if he didn't like it.

When he hadn't heard from her all day, he was tempted to just send her a quick text. He wanted her to know that he was thinking about her, but he didn't know whether it was the right thing to do. He didn't want to anger her, but he also didn't want her to think that he didn't care. He was just could not comprehend why she would want to go through this alone.

He'd tried to be as happy as possible for Alexis during the day. No matter what was going on in his life, Rick knew Alexis still needed him to be the best father he could be. They'd played board games, watched movies, and even played a round of laser tag. He was pretty sure even Alexis was trying harder to be happy than usual. He loved that his daughter knew him so well and would do that for him, but he felt bad that she thought she needed to.

They hadn't mentioned Kate all day until Rick was putting Alexis to bed.

"Hey dad," she spoke softly. "Is Kate really okay?"

Rick smiled down at his daughter as he tucked her in. He didn't want to share everything with Alexis and have her worry, but he also knew he couldn't pretend everything was fine. "Work is very difficult for her at the moment, but she's going to get through it." He said it with a smile and a nod hoping to convince his daughter he believed it, but he really didn't know if he believed it himself.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rick loved his daughters heart. She was always so willing to help, even if she didn't know what was going on. "That's sweet pumpkin. But, no, I don't think so. We just need to let her take her time to sort some things out and be here for her when she needs us."

"And what about you?" Alexis asked. "Are you okay?"

Rick leant down and placed a kiss on his daughters forehead. "I will be," he said sitting back up.

"She loves you, you know," Alexis said.

"I know. Now, it's time for you to stop worrying, and time to sleep."

"Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight pumpkin."

Rick left Alexis's room, poured himself a stiff drink in the kitchen and then made his way into his office.

Martha came in a few minutes later to see him staring at his phone in his hand. Rick had a feeling they weren't going to have their usual nightly talk so he was trying to decide whether he would call or not.

"Just call her Richard," Martha said.

"I can't. She asked for a few days. I can't push her. Pushing is what got me into this situation. If I hadn't pushed this morning, tried to make her stay, tried to make her talk to me, maybe she'd be here right now."

"Richard, how do you know she doesn't expect you to call."

"She said she'd call me. It's only been a day."

"What if she needs you?"

"I don't know," Rick sighed. "I want to help, I want to be there for her, but I can't be there if she won't let me. I guess I knew eventually she would come across something to do with her mother's murder, but I hoped we would have had longer together before it happened. She's opened up a lot about memories of her mother, but I think there's still a lot I don't know about the details surrounding her murder and the events that happened after and how it affected her. I'd hoped that when something came up she'd have opened up to me a little more about it, so she wouldn't feel like she had to do it alone." He put his phone down, rested his elbows on the desk and hid his face in his hands, shaking his head. He just didn't know what to do.

Martha made her way around the desk to her son and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You know what I think," she said squeezing his shoulder a little.

He lifted his head slightly. "What?"

"I think the last thing she needs is for you to give up on her."

He turned his head abruptly to her. "I'm not giving up, I'm giving her space. That's what she wanted."

There was irritation in his voice, and a hint of anger. Martha knew it wasn't at her, it was just at the situation he was in. She knew her son, she knew he would want to do more to help and it would be frustrating to not be able to do anything he wanted to.

"It may be what she wanted, but is it what she needs?"

Rick once again covered his face with his hands. "I don't know."

"Just think about it Richard," Martha said before kissing her son on the cheek and leaving him in his office alone.

A moment after Martha had left, Rick was back to staring at his phone. His mother was right. Space may have been what Kate had wanted, but it wasn't necessarily what she needed. He decided, after much deliberation, he would send her a message. He didn't want Kate to think he was pushing boundaries, he just wanted her to know he cared.

_'Missed you today. Let me know if there's anything I can do'_

There was so much more he wanted to write, so much he wanted to say, but by sending just that one message was taking away the space, the few days she had asked for. He waited up for a few hours, hoping for a reply. When there was no response by midnight, he gave up waiting and knew she wasn't going to reply, so he went to bed.

* * *

The next three days went by slower than ever for Rick. Every day he hoped to hear from Kate, but she hadn't called, or texted. There was nothing. It was like she had just up and left. Completely disappeared from his life. She had made no attempt to contact him at all. He thought about trying to call her multiple times but as soon as he picked up the phone, her words replayed in his mind. "I need some space. Just give me a few days. I'll call you." She'd asked for a few days. It was just a few days, it wasn't like she had said weeks or months. A few days, how many days is a few days? It had already been a few too many in his mind. He needed to know she was okay, he needed her to know he was not giving up on her.

He could see it was starting to affect Alexis too. She asked him each night, as he tucked her in, if Kate had called. When his answer was always no, she would try and cheer him up with her optimism. She tried to tell him confidently that Kate would call, she'd come back, because she loved him. But by Tuesday night, it was obvious Alexis was beginning to struggle believing what she had been saying. Seeing the sadness and disappointment in Alexis's eyes as he said Kate hadn't called again, Rick knew he had to do something. This wasn't just about him and Kate. This was about his daughter too. Kate said she'd be there for Alexis, and she just disappeared, without saying anything to her. Rick knew she had a lot going on, but he really didn't think it should mean ignoring a ten year old girl who had come to love her.

Back at the precinct, Kate and the other detectives had worked hard on the case but still had no answers for anything. They'd not been able to find any further links between her mother's case and the new case, and Kate was beginning to think that maybe they weren't linked and what she had originally found was just a coincidence. She may have wasted a lot of time looking for links that just weren't there.

Every night she'd gone home to an empty apartment. It didn't feel right, but she couldn't go anywhere else. She was broken and Rick deserved better. She hoped he'd wait for her, while she put the pieces of herself back together as much as she could. She loved him but she didn't think she could really love him the way he needed her to. She had managed to push everything they had talked about, everything they'd managed to get through together, out of her mind, like it had never happened. The only thing she could think about was how wrong she was for him and how he could have anyone he wanted. Why should he have to deal with someone so broken and lost.

She picked up her phone multiple times every night and stared at it. Her backdrop was a picture of herself and Rick. Alexis had captured it one morning as they made breakfast together. If anyone else had seen the picture, they would have thought them to be the perfect couple with not a care in the world. They looked so completely happy, so enthralled with each other. But Kate knew better. She would occasionally scroll through to his name in her contacts but each time she stopped herself from calling. She wasn't ready to talk about her mothers murder and the case with him completely yet, and until she was, she couldn't talk to him.

On Wednesday morning, Kate was sitting at her desk staring at the screen but really at nothing in particular. She couldn't believe how quickly her life had spiralled. At least her father was still doing really well, that was one less thing for her to worry about. She'd spoken to him briefly on Tuesday night before his AA meeting, partly to make sure he was still doing okay, but mostly because she wanted to know how Rick was doing. Her father confirmed what she was worried about, Rick was hurting, and it was her fault. She began telling herself she should never have gotten herself into the relationship in the first place. She should have known she would just end up running away and hurting him. It's what she does. So now, here she sat, staring at the computer screen going through the events of the past couple of months, trying not to allow sadness take over her body, but afraid that it may be too late.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when a take away coffee cup was placed in front of her.

Kate turned to see where the cup had come from and standing next to her desk looking forlorn, was Richard Castle.

"Rick? What are you doing here?" she asked, not sure whether she was happy to see him or angry that he had turned up unannounced. A part of her wanted to tell him to get out, to go and live his life, while the other part screamed at her to just dive into his arms.

"I missed you. Alexis misses you. You just left."

Kate took his hand and led him to the break room, closing the door behind them to give them at least a little bit of privacy.

"Rick, I said I needed space, and said I'd call you." She wanted to cry, seeing him there looking so lost and desperate, but she couldn't. She had to stay strong.

"You also said you'd be there for Alexis."

"I…" Kate started, but then stopped because she hadn't even thought about how her actions would have affected Alexis. How could she have been so stupid? She'd gotten so caught up in her own emotions, she'd forgotten about the emotions of a ten year old child. She found herself with her head down, fiddling with her hands.

"I know you're going through some stuff Kate. But we need you."

She took a calming breath and looked up again. "I promise, I'll call you soon. Just a couple more days? Let me just get this case done, then we can talk."

"No," Rick said unwaveringly.

"Sorry?" Kate was shocked at Rick's response. A couple more days wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

"Kate, I told you I wouldn't let you run. And for the past few days, I've let you run. You've run far enough and now it's time for me to catch you."

The tears Kate was trying not to shed, refused to obey Kate's wishes any longer, and one by one they started making their way down her face.

"Rick, I'm a mess. Even if you catch me, I may never be able to put myself back together. Both you and Alexis deserve more than I can give you. I love you, I just don't think I'm what's best for you right now."

Rick couldn't take it any longer. He wasn't going to let Kate talk herself out of this relationship, not when things had been going so well up until this case. He reached out for her and in one smooth movement, had his hands on her cheeks, stepped closer to her and kissed her with everything that he had in him. He didn't even stop when he felt wetness on his cheeks, not sure if it was coming from Kate or himself, he didn't care.

At first Kate didn't respond, but she soon began kissing him back, lost in his lips.

"Rick, I can't," she said suddenly pulling back.

"Kate. I love you. We all have mess, look at me, I'm a divorced man, single dad, I had an addiction that sent me to rehab," he paused, "and my mother lives with me."

Kate couldn't help but smile when he mentioned his mother living with him.

"I'm a mess," he continued. "But, that mess is what makes us special, it makes us unique. It's why we need others in our lives. Other people that will help pick up our messy pieces and put us back together." He reached out and placed his hands on her arms. "You can't put yourself back together on your own, and I want to be the one to help you."

Kate wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

"You're right," she said. "I'm running. It's what I do. I don't know how to do anything else. When things get hard, I run. When I find myself feeling more broken than ever, I run."

"Well, how about we hang up those running shoes and trade them in for ballet slippers?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, and a cute little smile began to show through his sadness.

Seeing the smile start to show on Rick's face made Kate's lips start turning into a small grin also. "Ballet slippers?" she asked confused.

"Yeah. Have you ever been to the ballet before?"

Kate nodded through her confusion, she had no idea where Rick was going with this. "When I was younger, I went a couple of times."

"Well, there's no running away in ballet. The man is there for the woman all the time. He supports her, lifts her up, and when she's spinning, he holds her steady. Kate, be my ballerina?"

It was so corny, it was actually sweet and Kate almost wanted to laugh. How they had managed to get to this was beyond her. She had no idea how he did it, but he always managed to make her smile. She probably needed him more than she realised. The last few days had been hell without him. She hadn't smiled once, even though she tried. She blamed it on the case, but right now, with him by her side, she was smiling, and the case was no closer to being solved. She'd been an idiot thinking she needed to do this without Rick. The truth was, she _couldn't _do it with him. She needed Rick to keep her from running herself deep into the ground. She needed him to stop herself from getting too caught up in it, to stop it from taking over her life. She'd already let it take over too many of her days, it was time for a change.

Kate looked up to Rick who was standing in front of her with a hopeful look in his eyes. "Only if you'll be my ballet partner man," she responded grinning.

"Of course I'll be your partner," Rick said now with a huge smile on his face. "On one condition," he added.

Kate gave him a questioning look.

"I'm not wearing those tights!" he said. "I don't need the whole world seeing the goods."

Kate laughed and rolled her eyes, and Rick knew he had his Kate back.

Rick grabbed Kate and pulled her into his chest, and held her there for the next few minutes, not willing to let her go. He felt the moment that Kate let everything go, and her body completely relaxed in his embrace.

When they pulled away from each other, Rick asked. "So, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, I'm beginning to think the connection with my mom is a coincidence, which means her case may continue to go unsolved. And if it does, then I may try to run again. You can help by not allowing me to do that. I'll need you to constantly tell me everything is going to be fine. Help me to find new ways of getting through these cases. Just don't let me run. Don't let me forget these moments, when you can bring light into even the darkest situations."

"Oh, I won't let you run. Don't you worry. You have done enough running. And Kate, I can guarantee you, this isn't one sided. There will be times that I'm going to need help myself. We can help each other, just like we have since we met. We're good for each other Kate."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"I love you. You know I'd do anything for you."

"I know," Kate responded before placing a gentle kiss to Rick's cheek. "Well, I should probably get back to work, and you should get back to Alexis."

"Will you call her today? She really does miss you."

"How about you give me a call when you get home? I'll talk to you both."

* * *

_**I think I like how that one ended up. Quite happy with it really :) **_

_**Oh, I bought more new stuff today... FINGERLESS GLOVES! They are the best. My hands always get cold when i'm on the computer, now most of my hands are covered, so they don't get so cold. LEGENDARY!**_

_**And a random question... does anyone have any good Lasagne recipes? I want to make one over the weekend, but I've never made one before. My housemate apparently makes great lasagne so if mine doesn't work out or is crap I will feel a little silly. I'm famously known in my area for my desert food and slices, so I need to extend my cooking abilities. **_

_**Also, while I'm on the subject of food. Whoever said 'food is the way to a mans heart' was totally wrong. It hasn't worked for me yet and I've been trying for like 3 years! HAHAHA! **_


	50. Chapter 50

"Dad, where is she? Why isn't she here? She said she'd be here," Alexis said impatiently while pacing the floor in front of the door.

"Alexis, she said she would try to be here. You know her job is important and keeps her busy," Rick said trying not to let his disappointment show.

"I know," Alexis sighed.

He had called Kate when he arrived home from the precinct earlier that day and the smile on Alexis's face hadn't dimmed all day, until now. They'd discussed dinner plans on the phone, another family dinner with Jim and Martha. Kate wasn't absolutely sure she'd be able to make it, but promised to come if she didn't have any new leads to follow and could get out. Rick wanted Kate to join them, especially after the past few days and knowing she had gotten herself completely overwhelmed with the case. He really hoped she would just tell the captain she had to leave, she did say she was going to try and balance it better. At the same time he knew she had a job to do. If she made it to dinner it meant a murderer was still out there endangering lives but he'd get to spend some time with her. If she didn't make it to dinner she was possibly saving more peoples lives but he wouldn't get to see her. If he didn't have a daughter he knew he'd probably be selfish and just want Kate to himself, but with a daughter he also understood the need for Kate to get her job done and to keep people safe. He still wasn't completely happy with the fact that she was working a case that had caused so much pain for her but, he knew why she felt the need to keep working on it. He was just going to continue to be there for her and make sure she didn't get lost in it. No matter what it took, he didn't want to see her get swallowed whole by this terrible case.

Jim stood watching the scene before him. It was obvious Kate's absence was disappointing not only to Alexis but to Rick as well, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't hoping to see her also. He was worried about his daughter and hoped that the conversation she'd had with Rick earlier on in the day was enough to open her eyes to see what was important.

He called Alexis over to join him in setting the table, and began telling a story to take Alexis's mind off the fact that Kate had not yet turned up.

Rick nodded his thanks in Jim's direction and received a smile in return. He then made his way through to his office to call Kate. He was certain that she wasn't going to make it, or she would have turned up by now. It was strange that she hadn't called to confirm either way so he just wanted to double check before they all sat down to eat.

"Beckett," she answered after a couple of rings.

"Hey Kate, it's just me."

"Oh hey Rick. What time is it?"

"Uh, it's getting close to 7pm. I just wanted to confirm…"

"Dinner?" she said. "Oh, um, I'm out with Blythe. We're following up a lead. I'm sorry Rick. I didn't realise it was so late. I'd really hoped to get there tonight."

Rick heard Blythe in the background as Kate spoke. "Kate? Do you need to be somewhere?"

"Hold a second Rick," Kate said before covering the mouth piece to talk to the other detective. "I was supposed to try and make it to dinner with Rick and our families tonight." Rick heard Kate say before voices became muffled.

Rick wasn't quite able to make out the rest of the conversation but it wasn't long until Kate was back on the line with him.

"We're about 45 minutes away from you Rick, and almost at the suspects residence. I don't think I'm going to make it for dinner. I really had hoped to get there. I guess I lost track of time."

Rick sighed into the phone. "I guess we'll just start eating without you. Maybe next time."

"Rick," Kate said softly. "You believe me don't you? If you don't think I did this on purpose I guess I really can't blame you. But I know both you and Alexis really wanted me there, and trust me, I really wanted to be there too."

"I believe you," he said, but he wasn't sure that he really did. He wanted to, he just didn't know.

Kate could hear in his voice that he didn't mean what he was saying, and it saddened her but she understood it. She'd given him no reason in the past few days to believe her or make him think that he and Alexis were more important that this case."

Kate sighed into the phone. "I know it'll be too late for dinner, but how bout I come around as soon as I finish tonight?"

"Really?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. Even if it's late. I'll be there if you want me there. I'll even make pancakes in the morning for Alexis."

"Smiley face pancakes?" he asked.

"I'm sure I can do that."

"Call me when you get here?" he said finally. It wasn't said with excitement, it was almost like he still wasn't sure she'd turn up.

"Will do." There was silence for a few seconds before she spoke again, "You know, this case, it's important, but so are you and Alexis. I just need to work out how to balance everything, and I will get there. Will you tell Alexis I love her and I'm so sorry for not being there tonight."

"Okay."

"And Rick, I love you."

"I know. Take care, and I'll see you later."

Rick hung up the phone and went back out to his daughter and Jim and found Martha had also joined them and was listening to another of Jim's exciting stories from his childhood.

Alexis's seemed to have cheered up which made him happier, but he still wasn't feeling so cheerful himself. There was just something that made him wonder whether Kate really did mean everything she had said. Was he really just as important as the case? Would she really come round as soon as she could, or would she keep working until someone told her to go? He really didn't know.

They all sat down to eat dinner and enjoyed the company without focusing on the fact that the one person they had all hoped would be there, wasn't there. Martha told them stories about her acting, and Jim told stories of his childhood baseball memories. Neither really understood what they were talking about but, were polite and feigned interest in the others stories.

About an hour later they were all sitting on the lounge listening to Alexis give an account of the lazer tag game she'd had with her father recently when there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Richard, were you expecting someone?" Martha asked.

"This better not be Meredith returning," he said walking over to the door.

When he opened it he was greeted by a smiling Kate Beckett, which he really hadn't been expecting so soon.

"Not Meredith," Kate said, and then bit into her bottom lip, unsure why she was suddenly feeling nervous.

"Definitely not Meredith," Rick smiled back, "Much better than Meredith."

"And, I brought desert. I hope I'm not too late," she said holding a bag containing ice cream and toppings out in front of her.

Rick just stood there staring. He really hadn't expected Kate to turn up so soon. He thought she would have gone back to the precinct, into an interrogation and stayed there for another few hours before someone kicked her out. But instead it looked like she had skipped out on an interrogation, and had come to him as soon as she could. He didn't realise that he'd been standing there staring until Kate pulled him from his thoughts.

"Can I come in?" she said.

"Oh, yeah, of course, sorry," Rick responded taking the bag from her and moving out of the doorway.

Kate was barely in the door before Alexis came running into her, wrapping her arms around her waist, while Rick put the ice cream in the kitchen.

"Kate!" she yelled excitedly. "You're back."

"I'm sorry I ran Alexis. I have to learn to stop running from things that scare me. Do you forgive me?" she asked hugging the young girl back.

Alexis nodded into Kate's chest. "Are you okay now?" she asked but refused to let go.

"Yeah, I will be."

"Good"

Rick let Alexis have her hug and waited patiently but, when she was taking too long to let go. He tapped her on the shoulder and raised his eyebrows at her. "Is it my turn now?" he asked.

Alexis and Kate both giggled as Alexis let go and made her way back into the lounge.

Rick reached out and grabbed Kate's hand pulling her body powerfully towards him and he enclosed his arms around her letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"Are you really okay?" he asked, stroking circles on her back.

"Getting there."

"Do you need anything?" he whispered softly in her ear.

"Just you."

Kate lifted her head to see his eyes full of love looking back down at him, and she realised just how much she had missed those eyes. He kissed her gently before taking her hand and walking them over to the kitchen.

"So, how did you get here so soon?" he asked as he pulled out the bowls from the cupboard and Kate pulled the contents from the bag. "I thought you would have gone into an interrogation and been caught up in all that for a while."

Kate shook her head. "No, I asked Blythe to drop me off at the corner store just down the road on our way back. I picked up the ice cream and headed straight on over. Blythe can do an interrogation without me." She paused and thought about what she was going to say next as she worked with Rick to put ice cream in the bowls. "This morning, when I said I needed to find a balance between the case and you, I meant it. But less than a day had gone by and I had already found myself losing time over the case, I knew I couldn't keep that up, not if I wanted to keep what we have. You are important to me Rick, this family is important to me, and as much as I want to find my mothers killer, I realised that it shouldn't be at the cost of something that has been really good for me and could actually help me. It shouldn't be at the cost of love. I know if this isn't the case that gets my mothers killer, then there'll be another, and I don't want to do it alone anymore."

As she finished they spoke simultaneously.

"I'd like to be there with you."

"I'd like you to be there with me."

They smiled at one another before finishing placing the toppings on the ice cream.

"We make a good team Kate," Rick said as he gently kissed her nose, causing her to giggle. She wasn't sure if he was talking about the way they had just worked together in the kitchen or if there was another meaning to it, but she decided right then, it didn't matter. She was happy, he was happy, they were there together with their family and they were just going to enjoy the time together.

They gathered the bowels and took them to their family members who were sitting watching the television.

In the middle of eating their desert Alexis jumped up from her seat and ran over to the cabinet. "What's going on Alexis?" Rick asked.

"I just thought of something that we might all enjoy. Listening to grams and pop's stories tonight, I thought it'd be nice to share our own," she said as she pulled out a home video.

"Alexis, did you just refer to Jim as pop?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, he said it was fine. It just feels right."

Jim smiled at Rick and gave him a quick nod. Rick mouth thank you back at Jim. He loved that Jim felt that comfortable in his family. As he watched his daughter and Jim share a look he felt Kate's hand rest over on his thigh and give it a squeeze. She took his attention away from his daughter and he found himself looking at the beautiful woman next to him, the same woman who had put her job aside for the evening so she could spend it with him. He wasn't sure the evening could have felt any more perfect at that moment and he was sure a lone tear fell down his cheek.

Alexis pressed play on the video and a teenage Richard Castle was shown on a small stage.

"Oh, this was his first time acting," Martha said excitedly, and Kate could already see how emotional Martha was becoming after watching only a few seconds. She had a feeling she was in for an interesting night.

A few seconds later Martha continued, "Also his last time acting. It didn't take us long to realise he didn't get any of my acting genes."

"Hey!" Rick exclaimed, pretending to be hurt, but Kate calmed him when she leant into his side further and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well, c'mon Richard," Martha said. "Look at you. You had no idea how to memorise lines, and you had this monotone voice. It was never going to work for you on a stage."

"I guess we're lucky I figured out how to write then. Can you imagine if acting had worked out for me," he said. "Living with another you."

"Oh gosh! You're right. That would be awful!" Martha said, causing the others I the room to laugh.

A little later they got to Rick's prom night and there was a little bit of footage of him getting ready and then him collecting his date. He was nervous and Kate really enjoyed seeing this nervous young Rick. While watching, she leaned up and kissed him on the jawline noticing he was a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

A few other scenes were shown from different occasions, including some footage from a few of Ricks book signings. A few minutes into the footage, it showed Richard talking to a woman. She was young, had a slim figure with dark wavy hair, but the way it was filmed you couldn't see her face and nobody was able to hear what she had called herself. Kate sat holding her breath knowing exactly who it was. It was her, she knew it immediately, but thankfully Rick didn't notice. Her father gave her a look, so it was possible he'd figured it out, but he could see how uncomfortable she was, and so he chose not to say anything.

The video kept rolling and soon it got to footage from Rick's wedding.

Rick looked over to Kate and then to Alexis, "Uh, pumpkin, I don't think we need to see this part, how about we find another video. How about the one of you?"

"Wait, there's just one more thing I want to see," Alexis said. It hadn't occurred to her that Rick was worried about how Kate would be feeling about watching footage from when he got married to another woman.

Kate could sense Rick's discomfort, so she reached over for his hand and took it in her own holding it in her lap. "It's ok Rick," she said smiling.

It wasn't long before everyone knew what Alexis had been waiting for. It was the day when Rick met his daughter for the very first time. There he was, on the screen, ten years younger holding his daughter in his arms for the first time, and the look on his face was one of pure wonder. Tears rolled down his face as he smiled at the little baby girl in his arms. They could see all the emotion and everything he was feeling in that moment play out on his face. In a matter of milliseconds he became the happiest person in the world, he fell in love with his new baby and he was in complete awe of this little life he held in his hands. As he watched he felt Kate hold tighter onto his hand, and when he looked over at her, she had a couple of tears falling down her cheeks. Looking around the room, he realised there wasn't a dry eye there.

"And you said I wasn't a good actor mother," he joked. "Look, I can make everyone cry."

"That's not acting son, that's real life. There's a difference."

Kate laughed and wiped the tear from her face.

Not long after the video had finished Jim left to go home and Martha had gone to bed. Both Kate and Rick put Alexis to bed and once again, it felt like a real family moment, one that she wanted to experience more of.

* * *

"Rick," Kate said softly, as she climbed into the bed next to him.

"Hmmm?"

"What happened with Meredith?"

"She had to go back to LA. She had an audition," he said confused. He was sure Kate was aware of that.

"No, I mean, your marriage. Why didn't it work out?"

"Meredith and I, we weren't right for each other. We never were."

"But did you think you were at one stage?"

"I don't know really. We got married because she got pregnant. I thought it was the right thing to do. But she wasn't ready to settle down. Neither was I really, but when Alexis came along, I knew I had to. It wasn't about me any more, I had a daughter to think about."

"So you and Meredith just went down different paths after that?"

"Uh, you could say that. I went down the doting father, loving family man path, and she went to down the cheating adulterous wife path."

"Oh," Kate was a little shocked. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise."

"It's not something I talk about a lot. I guess I always knew something was going to go wrong. I think I even lived my life expecting it. I expected that one day I would arrive home, and she just wouldn't be there anymore, but what I didn't expect was walking into my own home to find her shacking up with her director."

Kate rolled over towards him and placed her hand on his cheek turning his head so she could see him.

"That must have been difficult for you. Dealing with that and having a daughter in amongst it. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for Kate. You didn't do anything wrong. You couldn't have stopped it," he said reaching over her and running his fingers down her spine.

"And do you regret anything?"

"I know some people would think so, but no. Look what I got out of it. Alexis. She's been my world for ten years and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Have you ever thought about having more?"

"Wives?" Rick asked with one eyebrow raised.

Kate laughed and slapped him gently on the chest. "No. I meant kids," she said and then bit down nervously on her bottom lip.

She'd always wanted kids, but at the same time knew it could be difficult with her work and so sometimes she thought maybe she'd be better off without them. But, after seeing the video of Rick when he first held Alexis she had to find out what his thoughts were. If they were serious about their relationship, this was the type of thing they were going to have to talk about, and she wanted him to know she was serious about not wanting to run anymore. It didn't mean they would start trying for kids right away, there was a lot of steps they needed to take in between but she knew if he wanted more, she didn't want to stop him from having them. The look in his eyes as he had held Alexis for the first time was a look Kate couldn't remove from her memory, it was tattooed into her mind. He just looked so thoroughly happy, like nothing mattered except the child he was holding. She wanted to be a part of that one day. A happy little family. It would be perfect.

"You know," Rick started. "Until now, I hadn't really put much thought into it. I guess I've just been waiting for the right woman. And now, I think more kids would be wonderful, another little Rick, or an adorable miniature Kate, but only when you're ready for them."

Kate gasped in surprise. It wasn't like she hadn't been thinking of them having kids together when she asked, but she hadn't vocally acknowledged that she was talking about them having kids together. Hearing Rick say it shocked her a little.

"But don't worry," he said. "We're taking this slowly. One step at a time. So how about we put away that discussion and we'll pick it up later. Because I can think of plenty of other things I'd rather be doing with you right now," he said, flipping Kate over onto her back and hovering his body over her. "What do you say?" he finished before gently lowering his lips to hers.

Kate felt her body responding to him immediately. "One… step… at a… time," she said in between kisses.

* * *

_**7pm and I'm ready for bed... it's been a LONG day! Luckily I had this chapter all written out for you already! YAY!**_

_**This is a little sad really but I don't think I've got any randomness to share today! :O I'm all randomed out!**_


	51. Chapter 51

On Thursday morning Kate woke to find Ricks face looking down on her as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Are you watching me sleep?" she asked.

Rick responded with a grin.

"It's kinda creepy."

"Not from where I am," Rick said leaning down to kiss her. "You're absolutely beautiful, and so peaceful when you're sleeping."

Kate couldn't stop the smile from gracing her lips. No matter how creepy the staring may have been, she couldn't hide that fact that she thought he was kind of adorable.

"Well Rick, since we are both awake, I do believe we have some pancakes to make," Kate said pulling down the blankets, sitting up and moving her feet to the side of the bed.

Rick was quick to respond and reached over to her side and pulled her back down. "I'm sure the pancakes can wait, wouldn't you rather stay here a little longer?" he said pinning Kate to the bed with his body.

As good as staying in bed sounded, Kate did have to go into work and she wanted to get some time with Alexis. She pecked at Rick's lips before completely stunning him as she used her self defence training to flip him back onto his back and then continued to roll off the bed and ran for the door.

Rick was quick off the bed and had soon caught up with Kate grabbing her around the waist from behind and he lifted her into his chest and started pulling her back into the room.

Kate let out a girlish scream which was then followed by laughter. "Rick, put me down," she laughed.

"Nope," he said making his way back towards his room.

They heard Alexis before they saw her coming down the stairs.

"Dad? Kate?" she called, she could hear them laughing but wasn't really sure what the two adults were up to. "Dad, what are you doing to Kate?"

Rick let Kate down so her feet touched the floor but kept his hands around her stomach and leant in so his chin was on her shoulder.

"Nothing pumpkin, I just didn't want Kate to start breakfast without me."

Kate turned her face to look at him and raised her eyebrows, "Really Castle? Is that what you were doing?"

Rick quickly pecked Kate's lips and nodded. "Uh huh," he said.

"Well, I guess we should go get breakfast started since Alexis is up."

Kate tried to get away from Rick's hands but he wasn't letting her go. Instead he followed right behind her walking with his chest to her back.

"You know, I can't make pancakes if you are crowding me like that," she said as they got to the kitchen.

"I know, but I'm worried that if I let you go, you're going to leave here and work is going to take you away from me."

It wasn't until Rick said it that he realised that's what he was actually feeling. It didn't matter how much was said the previous day, it didn't matter that Kate chose to leave Blythe before going back to the station for an interrogation, there was still a little voice in his head that doubted her ability to put work aside to and make room for him and his family.

Kate turned in his arms and lifted her hands to either side of his face. "Rick, I promise you, I'm not going to let that happen. I do have to go to work today, but I wont let it take me away from you completely." She kissed him and then added with a smile, "You're my ballerina man. What kind of partner would I be if I left you on your own?"

Alexis looked at the two adults in front of her and had never felt more confused in her life. "Dad? You're a ballet dancer?"

"Yep," Rick responded without even turning to look at his daughter. He just kept gazing into Kate's eyes, looking for anything that looked like doubt or uncertainty but, he saw none. Either she was very good at hiding what was really going on in her mind or she really wasn't wanting to run again.

"Ballet? My dad does ballet?" Alexis said to no one in particular. "This I have to see."

It was Kate that dropped the gaze between herself and Rick first and looked towards Alexis. "Sorry Alexis, it was just something your dad said to me yesterday. There's really no ballet dancing going on." She paused and looked at Rick again. "Well, at least I don't think there is."

Now it was Ricks turn to laugh. "I've never done ballet in my life. But for you Kate, I would learn. But how about we get started on breakfast first."

* * *

Kate and Blythe managed to solve their case and unfortunately had found nothing more than Johanna's name in the file to link the two murders together. Kate was disappointed because she had hoped to put her mothers case to rest, but she also knew it wouldn't be her last chance. When the time was right something would come up again, and as long as she knew she had Castle, she would get through it.

She'd gone to visit Lanie in the morgue during the afternoon, collecting more copies of some of her reports for the police files. While there, they organised dinner and drinks after work. Lanie had asked a couple of times about Castle in their brief time together and so Kate promised she would invite him, but couldn't guarantee he'd be able to join them.

A little later in the afternoon Kate did try to invite Rick but unfortunately, with his mother out all evening, and his usual sitter busy with plans of their own, he had to stay home with Alexis. Kate suggested her father could watch her for the evening, but then remembered he had a session with his counsellor that evening and she wasn't sure how long those sessions ran for. In the end she knew Lanie was just going to have to wait for another time to meet Rick.

Kate arrived at their chosen drinking spot just after 6pm and immediately spotted Lanie sitting at the bar.

"Hey Lanie," she said, as she reached her friend. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"No. I took the liberty of ordering you a drink."

Lanie passed Kate a martini glass and stood up off her stool holding a drink of her own.

"Thanks Lanie," Kate said taking the drink.

"Let's go find a table."

The ladies found an empty table in the corner of the bar and sat down opposite one another.

"So girl, tell me, where is this man of yours?" Lanie asked with wide, excited eyes, hoping he was going to be there.

"Uh, sorry Lanie. He couldn't make it. He had to stay home with Alexis."

"Oh right. I forgot you said he had a daughter." She was a little disappointed. She knew she was probably a little too nosey when it came to peoples love lives, but she didn't care.

They both took a sip of their drinks before Lanie spoke up again.

"So tell me, how are things going between you two? I noticed you hadn't mentioned him much this week?"

"I don't mention him much anyway."

Lanie raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Do I?" Kate asked.

"Well, not on purpose I guess. But, usually if I ask about him, you at least give me something. Even though you pretend to act like you don't want to, I know you love to share about him. This week though, it was like you were so caught up in the case you didn't want to talk about him at all. If I bought him up, you'd immediately go back to the case. But then today, you went back to your old ways."

"Oh."

"So, did something happen?"

"The case happened." Kate said, getting a confused expression from Lanie and Kate knew she was going to have to explain.

Kate told Lanie everything that had happened over the week, she'd briefly explained her mothers murder and how seeing her name in the case files had affected her and how it caused her to run.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. But everything is okay now?" Lanie asked.

"Yeah, Rick came and knocked some sense into me yesterday," Kate said, unable to stop the smile from growing on her face. "And I realised I couldn't do this without him."

"Oh, I can't wait to meet this guy," Lanie squealed. "Every time you talk about him, you get this cute little look on your face and you can't stop smiling. He's gotta be a good one."

"Yeah," Kate nodded. "He definitely is."

Before they were able to continue their conversation they were interrupted by a young man.

"Good evening Ladies," he said getting their attention. "May a thorn sit down amongst the roses?"

"Seriously?" Lanie said.

"That's your line?" Kate added.

The girls laughed with each other.

"Oh, c'mon. Let me join you, I have a friend over there," he said pointing to another guy sitting along at another table. "You guys are alone, we're alone, and none of us have to be."

"Uh, sorry buster, we're not alone and we're happy with our current company thank you," Lanie said.

Right at that moment Kate's phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw Rick's face looking back at her.

"Hey Rick," she said.

"That'd be her boyfriend," Lanie whispered to the man now starting to look a little embarrassed beside them.

Kate couldn't be sure if the man had seen the picture on her phone as she pulled it out but with the look on his face she was pretty sure he was feeling a little less confident about being able to join them.

She was on the phone for just a couple of minutes before Kate finished the call telling him she would call when she got home. When she looked back to where their unwanted guest was previously standing, he found that he was no longer there.

"Where did our _friend_ go?" she laughed.

"Wow, you really zone out when you're talking to him?"

"Lanie!" Kate said trying to stop any more comments from being made about the relationship she was in or how it made her behave.

"Sorry." Lanie said. "I'm pretty sure our _friend_ noticed the look on your face while you were on the phone and realised that he didn't stand a chance, so he gave up and left."

The two women stayed out talking about anything and everything, except Rick. Kate thought Lanie already knew enough and she didn't need to know more, so any time she brought him up, Kate would give her a look and Lanie would change the subject. After a few hours she was beginning to feel the weeks events weighing down on her and she was ready to collapse into bed.

"Well, what do you say we call it a night?" Kate said. "It's been fun. We should do this again."

"Yeah, we should," Lanie responded. "Next time, bring your boy along."

* * *

Once all the paperwork was finished on Friday, Kate was told to go home early and take the weekend off. Captain Montgomery knew how difficult the case had been for her and wanted to make sure she wasn't overloading herself. Kate was glad for the time off. It would allow her to spend some quality time with Rick and Alexis, and make up for earlier in the week. She was on the phone within seconds of filing the last bits of paperwork making sure Rick would be home.

Rick took longer than he expected getting groceries so when he arrived at the loft, he found Kate waiting just outside his door.

"Sorry," he said walking towards her. "I was hoping to be back before you got here."

"It's fine. I haven't been waiting long."

Rick tried to juggle his shopping bags into one hand but, had a feeling it would end disastrous with food everywhere if he continued. He knew he should have accepted the doorman's offer of help, but he was busy with someone else and Rick had just wanted to get upstairs.

"Hey Kate, my keys are in my left pocket. A little help," he suggested.

Kate reached into Ricks pocket purposely moving her hand a little too far to his right causing him to gasp. "Kate, my keys, not… that."

Kate chucked, and then took the keys out and opened the door.

The couple moved through the loft into the kitchen and started putting away the groceries together. Kate couldn't help but notice just how domestic it seemed, and how comfortable she was in Rick's home. It wasn't the first time she'd noticed it, it had been happening quite often and as frightening as it was, she also found it to be somewhat exciting.

"So, where's Alexis?" she asked as they finished putting everything away.

"She's out shopping with mother, they wont be back for another few hours."

"You mean to say, we've got the place to ourselves for a little while," she said seductively, walking towards him and trapping him against the bench with her arms and body.

Rick watched as Kate's eyes grew dark with lust and want, and she bit on her lower lip. "I guess we do," he responded reaching his hands between them and undoing the top couple of buttons on Kate's shirt. "What should we do?"

"We could eat."

Ricks finger ran gently down her chest and popped open the next button.

"We could read," Kate continued, as Rick kissed in between her breasts. "We could… mmmm…" Kate was trying her best to get words out, not wanting Rick to know just how quickly his lips affected her, but she was struggling as his mouth moved from her chest up to her neck.

"We could simply relax," she said as her body began to feel like putty in his arms, and her knees began to weaken beneath her.

When Rick knew Kate had absolutely no control over her body, he whipped them both around so that it was now she, who was trapped against the bench. He began kissing back down her chest again as he unbuttoned the rest of her shirt, then stood up and finally kissed her lips as he pushed her shirt over her shoulders and dropped it onto the kitchen floor.

"I think I know something else we could do," he said pressing his hips into her centre so she could feel just how ready he was for her.

Kate's hands moved to unbutton Rick's shirt but he pulled them away. "No Kate. Let me spoil you," he said as he lifted her by the hips and placed her on the bench.

"Not here," Kate breathily got out. "Alexis and Martha,"

"Are out," Rick finished.

"But…" Kate said, but could get no further words out as Rick stepped into the v of her legs and began running his hands over her body.

Kate's body reacted to every little movement he made, and soon she found herself lying back on the bench top while Rick's hand grazed over her stomach and down to the waistband of her jeans.

As much as Rick wanted to continue things without stopping, he knew Kate was right to be worried about Alexis and Martha, he really didn't know when they would be home so he pulled her towards him and wrapped her feet behind his back. Kate was completely lost in his control, he was sure he could do absolutely anything to her at that moment. He leant over her chest pulled her body into his and picked her up, then walked her over to the bedroom and placed her on the bed.

"Better?" he asked.

He didn't give Kate a chance to respond before he was back to lavishing her mouth and body with kisses, causing her to tremble beneath him.

A little while later as they lay naked and tangled together completely satisfied, Rick kissed Kate's temple. "That was amazing," he said. "You are amazing."

"I'm pretty sure that was all you," she said with a giggle. "I guess I should thank your mom for taking Alexis out today."

"Oh, I think I will be too."

They just lay silently for a moment seeking comfort in each other's arms.

"Rick," Kate said as she snuggled in closer on his chest. "I'm sorry that work takes up so much of my time."

"Where is that coming from?" he asked holding her close, and hearing the anxious expression in her voice.

"It's just… I wish I could spend more time with you. It's been four weeks since we came home from the Hamptons and I just feel like we haven't had much time alone."

"Kate, it's been a crazy four weeks, but it's not always going to be like this. We'll work it out."

"What if we don't? Is this going to be enough for you?"

"You are enough for me Kate."

Kate just simply lay there on his chest listening to his heart beat while Rick ran his gentle fingers up and down her back.

They lay there for a few minutes before Rick broke the silence.

"Here's a crazy idea. How about you just move in with me?"

* * *

_**So life is pretty gah! right about now. You know when everything is going swell and then... it's not! Yeah, well that's mine right now. But don't you worry... I'm still writing! **_

_**Did I tell you about my fingerless gloves? If not, well I have to tell you about them now.. I just bought some the other day and seriously... they are like totally the trendiest things ever! I'm bringing back the look. Singlet top with fingerless gloves! I think I look great like that, even if others laughed at me haha. **_

_**Anyways, about that chapter. I thought I needed a little bit of Lanie in there again, don't worry... she will get to meet Rick soon :) I have a plan! **_

_**Also, I seem to have gotten rather lazy when it comes to responding to reviews. I do apologize if I don't respond, it's not because i don't appreciate you, it's just that I'm extremely busy these days. Thanks to everyone for reading... now I shall get working on the next chapter!**_


	52. Chapter 52

"Here's a crazy idea. How about you just move in with me?"

Kate's body immediately stiffened in Rick's arms.

"What?"

"Move in with me Kate."

"Rick…" Kate said with a shaky voice.

He spoke quickly before Kate could say anything further. "I know it's soon but just think about it. You wont need to worry about us not getting enough time together because you'll be coming home to me every night."

"Rick… I…"

"Just think about it," he continued again wanting to explain further before she could turn him down completely. "I know this is a big step, and we said we'd take things slow, but wouldn't it be easier to work through all of this together? Us, work, family. Maybe it's too soon and you're not ready, and that's okay, I just don't want you to say no without thinking it through."

"Have you thought it through?" Kate asked.

"Would it scare you if I said I actually had been thinking about it for the past couple of weeks. I didn't say anything because I had a feeling you wouldn't be ready, but Kate, maybe this is what we need."

Kate wasn't saying much but Rick felt her body beginning to relax. "Just promise me you'll think about it?" Rick asked.

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"And Kate, if it doesn't happen now, maybe we'll talk about it again later when you are ready. I can't imagine a future without you here with us, it just feels right."

Once again, they rested in complete silence. Comfortable with the feel of each others bodies against their own, nestling in the warmth they were giving off.

They were disturbed from their peaceful rest when Martha arrived home with Alexis.

"Richard darling, we're home," Rick heard his mother calling out.

Kate rolled away from Rick quickly, and the two of them rushed around putting on their clothing again. They didn't need Alexis knowing what they had been up to or Martha to walk in on them naked. With neither Alexis or Martha knowing Kate was there, either of them could have just burst through into Rick's room.

"Richard?" Martha called again.

"Uh, coming mother. Won't be long," he said hopping about trying to get his leg into his pants.

Kate had everything except her shirt and was frantically searching the room for it. "Rick? Where's my shirt?"

"Oh, uh, in the kitchen?" Rick said nervously.

"Seriously Castle!" Kate said through gritted teeth.

Rick shrugged and mouthed an apology, when they heard a gentle knock on the door.

"Give me a minute. I'll be right there."

"I thought Kate might like her shirt back," Martha said just loud enough for them to hear through the door.

Kate slapped her hand to her face completely embarrassed.

Rick opened the door open just enough to see his mother and to collect the shirt, then closed it again before Martha could say anything more or give him one of her knowing looks.

* * *

On Saturday Kate had organised to have brunch with her father. There were things she needed to talk to him about, things to do with her mom and others to do with Rick.

"Hey Katie," Jim said taking his seat at the diner. "How are you feeling now? Did you solve the case?"

"Yeah, we solved it but we couldn't find anything else to link it to moms case. I still don't have those answers."

"You'll get them one day."

"I hope so."

"You will, but you know it's okay if you don't, right?" he questioned her.

"Yeah, I know."

"Good. Because there's more to life than living in the past."

"I know dad, really. It's okay, there are other things to live for" she smiled and he nodded, accepting that she really did believe what she was saying. "I've ordered you a ham and cheese croissant, is that okay?" Kate added quickly.

"Yeah Katie, that sounds great. Now back to this case. Tell me what happened. What was it that made you run from the one person who promised to be there and help you through it?"

"Honestly dad, I don't know. I just realised how broken I was. I didn't think he needed someone like me around, not until I could put myself back together."

"And you were going to do that on your own?"

"I thought so."

"So, you thought because you were broken he didn't need you. I may not agree with that but, I guess I can understand it. What I don't understand is what made you think you could do this on your own. It's like you ignored what you needed most, a friend, someone to help you through it. You shut those that care about you out."

"I thought I'd be fine, I thought it would be easier on my own. For everyone," Kate said sounding disappointed in herself. "But I now know I was wrong. When I saw Rick on Wednesday I realised that he was really the one thing I needed through it. We need each other. I see that now."

"Katie, remember when we were in the Hamptons, remember what you said to me about wanting to make time for others."

"Yeah, I remember," she nodded. "But it's difficult," Kate continued looking down at her hands. "I'm still in training, I can't always just go into work and leave when I want to. There's a lot for me to learn still."

"I'm sure the other detectives don't work the same hours as you do. How often in the past week did you stay later than the others, or did you get in before the others?"

Kate was silent. She knew she had turned up before anyone else for the first few days of the week. It wasn't until Thursday morning, after she'd spent the evening with Rick that she arrived the same time as the other detectives. Leaving was slightly different because Blythe or Montgomery always made her leave, but she knew if they didn't, she probably would have stayed all night.

When Kate didn't respond Jim knew the reason why. "Kate you turn up early, you stay late, and you do work that you're probably not even required to do. There's more than just you on the team."

"I know, but I like to be prepared."

"No," Jim said abruptly. "It's not that you like to be prepared. You like to run from real things that are happening in your life. You like to avoid real feelings, and you try to cover it up by getting buried in the word, especially if it has anything to do with your mothers case."

"Dad, I'm working on it. I'm going to try harder. I'm learning to share my time. Rick is going to help me."

"And you're going to let him?"

Kate nodded. "I'm trying dad, I really am."

"Good," Jim said resting his hand over Katie's on the table. "I'm sorry if I was harsh, I just don't like to see you hurting. I don't want to see you going back to the miserable life you had before. I worry about you Katie, but I worry less when you're with Richard because I know he looks after you and I know he makes you happy. I just don't want to see you ruin it."

"I know. And I'm trying not to. Thank you." Kate placed her free hand above her fathers and enclosed his hand between hers. She was silent as she looked down at their hands. Father and daughter. She thought about how her mum would feel looking down at them. She thought she'd be proud of them. The way they are dealing with everything that is happening. She would want to see them happy, she'd want to see them continuing in their lives, helping each other with everything that came their way.

"Dad, he asked me to move in," Kate said without lifting her head.

"And how did that make you feel?" Jim asked, knowing that Kate probably hadn't given him a yes or no answer at this point. In previous years, Kate would have kept big decisions to herself and would have run from them. He knew that the simple task of telling him was a huge step for her, she was working through things, trying harder to share her thoughts and it filled him with a sense of joy knowing that she was opening up to him like this again. He felt like once again he was being the father he was always meant to be.

"Honestly, it scared me. It's not that I don't see myself in a relationship with him in the long term. I really can't imagine my life without him any more. He's the one that brings light into the dark places. It's just moving in seems so," she paused. "I don't know… sudden. I've never done this before, talked to guys about a future."

"I know. And I'm so proud of you for taking that step. You know it's important for us to think of our future and see a vision for ourselves. Without it we'll find ourselves simply stuck in the past unable to get out."

"So, what do I do? Do I pack up my stuff and move in with Rick?"

"I can't answer that question for you Katie. Only you know what's right for you. You can't force these things, but you also can't hold off and wait for everything else to be perfect first. When your mother and I were dating, our timing couldn't have been more wrong. Apart from the fact that her parents really didn't like me, we both had our own messes we were figuring out. And do you know what helped? Do you know when we got most of our mess sorted?"

"When you worked together?" Kate said, more stating a fact than asking the question.

"Exactly. You need that man in your life, but don't feel like you need to rush it if it's not right. Give it time and the answers will come. Rick is a patient man. You'll figure it out, and then you'll get all your mess sorted. Trust me."

* * *

Kate went home for a few hours after brunch knowing she had a few things to do but before long, she was back on her way back to the loft where Rick and Alexis were waiting to take her out to see a movie.

When she arrived back at the loft Rick greeted her with a gentle kiss at the door, one of those kisses you imagine you would share with your husband or wife as they arrive home from work in the evenings. It wasn't a kiss out of habit, it was more of an 'I could do this every night of my life as I come home' type of kiss, not that Kate was ready to call the loft home. One day definitely, she was certain of that, but as for when, she really didn't know. It still needed some thought.

Alexis looked like she was almost ready to jump out of her skin with excitement.

"Kate, you're going to love this. It's gonna be awesome."

"So, what are we going to see?" she asked.

"Harry Potter, the new one's out. Have you seen the first one?"

Kate laughed at the young girls enthusiasm.

"Actually, yes, I have. I loved it."

"Great, well I think you'll love this one more," Alexis said pushing her way past the two adults and out the front door.

"Well," Rick laughed as he put a cap and a pair of sunnies on. "I guess we should be going then," he said placing his hand on the small of Kate's back. He then leaned in to whisper, "you look gorgeous tonight."

"I'd say the same for you but, what's with the cap and sunnies?" Kate questioned.

"Oh, it's just until we are in the theatre. It's a Saturday night, there's bound to be a lot of people around. So I'm in disguise."

"Oh, but Castle, we haven't even left the loft yet? Do you often have people waiting outside your door that you have to be worried about?" she teased.

Rick shook his head and removed the cap and sunnies.

"Much better," Kate said joining their hands as they made their way to catch up with Alexis.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the theatre and Rick's hat and sunnies were back on his head again. Kate had a quick look around and did notice a couple of people standing around with cameras, and was now glad that Rick had thought ahead. As he went to the ticket booth, Alexis pulled Kate over to the concession lobby to get drinks and snacks. Rick joined the girls just as Kate was about to pay for their things and quickly handed over some cash before Kate had the chance.

"Rick," she said with a glare.

"What?"

"We've talked about this. You can't pay for everything."

"Tonight I can," he said simply with a smug look on his face.

Kate couldn't decide who she was more annoyed at. Rick for not letting her pay, or herself for actually finding his smug look cute and instead of wanting to argue with him wanting to kiss him.

"Fine. But I'm buying milkshakes after."

"Deal!" Rick said with a nod. "Now let's go inside."

Rick led Alexis and Kate to the theatre door and held it open for them like a true gentleman. He even made sure to tell Kate how gentlemanly he was being which just made Kate roll her eyes at him.

As soon as they were inside their room Rick took off his hat and glasses and made his way to the centre chairs, the ones that he considered to have the best view. Alexis sat one side of him and Kate on the other.

"I'm surprised there's no one else here," Kate said looking at Rick with a confused expression. "I would have though Harry Potter was quite popular."

"Oh, it is, which is why I booked the entire theatre for us."

"You what?" Kate exclaimed. "Castle!"

"Shush, it's nothing."

"That's not nothing. That would have cost you a fortune."

"Well it's a good thing I have a fortune to spend then."

"Rick," Kate said trying to get him to start being serious.

"Kate, I don't want to have to hide while I'm watching a movie with you. I want to be able to enjoy it without wondering if people are watching me. I don't want them to make judgements about who you are or what you are doing with me. And I also don't want to have to worry about whether there's cameras taking pictures of me holding your hand," he said as he grabbed hold of her hand, "or leaning into you," he said leaning close, "or kissing you."

Kate beat Rick to the next move, and joined her lips with his, just briefly. Alexis, after all, was still sitting next to them.

"Okay," she said pulling away. She found it somewhat surreal that she was actually dating someone who had to think about these things. When it didn't occur to herself to think of these things, she was glad that Rick did and made an effort to make things easy on her. He was always thinking of others. He always wanted what was best for her, even though she knew that his publicist would probably prefer to have him in the newspapers out with a new woman.

They watched the movie in silence, and soon they were on the way back to the loft after stopping for milkshakes at a quiet little diner.

When they arrived back Rick sent Alexis upstairs to get ready for bed. He went up to check on her a few minutes later as she was just climbing into bed.

"Hey dad, have you given Kate her present yet?" she asked.

"Not yet pumpkin. Don't worry, I won't forget. Right now, it's time for you to sleep."

Rick leaned over and tucked his daughter into bed, kissing her on the forehead just like he did every night.

"Is Kate coming to say goodnight?" Alexis asked.

"I'm here," Kate said as she entered the bedroom door.

Rick turned to her with an affectionate smile. He absolutely loved that Kate didn't need to be asked to come up to see Alexis. She came without question, like it was something so natural for her. Rick stood up from the bed and Kate took his position. She leant over and kissed Alexis's forehead in the same way Rick had just done.

"Goodnight Alexis," she said stroking the young girls forehead.

"Goodnight Kate, love you."

"Love you too," Kate responded and then felt Rick by her side leaning over and kissing her cheek.

After Rick had also said goodnight, he took Kate downstairs and poured them both a glass of wine.

"Kate," Rick said as he sat down next to her on the lounge. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

Kate looked up at him concerned.

"It's ok, you don't need to look so worried. It's just that, you know I write books right?"

Kate laughed and playfully nudged him with her shoulder. "Yes, I know you write books."

"And you know that often means they sometimes write articles about me in the newspaper."

Kate nodded but still had no idea where he was going.

"Well, I have been out of the papers for a while, since before I went into rehab and my publicist wants me to start getting out there again. My book isn't ready and won't be for a while but she says if I stay out of the public eye for too long people will lose interest in me."

"So, what you're saying is, you need to go out in public more?" Kate asked taking a sip of wine.

"Well, yes and no. There's a party coming up, it's a fundraiser for a local charity. They often have the press there covering the event and Paula, my publicist, thought it would be a good idea for me to go. The thing is, I'm more likely to get into the papers if I have a date with me."

"Oh."

"Kate, I'd like you to come with me?"

Kate bit her lip, unsure how to respond. "I don't know if I'm ready for that, for my picture to be in the paper. What if they ask me questions? Or want to know everything about me and go digging into my life."

Rick nodded. "Paula and myself will do everything we can to stop that from happening but Kate, this is up to you. If you don't want to come this time, I understand. I, however, will still have to go but I can take my publicist or publisher. I'll stay long enough for the press to see that I've made an appearance and then I'll be out of there. I'd much rather spend the time with you."

"When is the party?" Kate asked.

"It's in two weeks."

"Can I think about it?" she said. "I want to go with you, I just don't know if I'm ready for everyone to know about us yet and for everything that will come with it." She was partly thinking about Lanie. They hadn't known each other long but she felt like they were becoming closer, and she was really one of Kate's only friends. She at least wanted Lanie to meet Rick before having her picture show up in the paper with him.

"Of course," he said resting his hand on her thigh and stroking circles on her leg with his thumb. "Whatever you want. And there's one other thing. I know I said you could take your time in thinking about moving in, so I don't want you to think that I'm trying to force you to make a decision but," he reached into his pocked and pulled out a single key. "I had this cut for you," he finished.

"Rick?"

"It's a key to the loft."

"I can see that but, why?"

"Why not?"

"I… uh…" Kate sputtered, she didn't really know what to think.

"Kate, it's just a key. Nothing more. It was just yesterday that you had to wait outside the door for me."

"I didn't mind"

"But with a key you wont have to. I want my home to feel like home for you, even if you've not moved in… yet. You're a part of this family."

Kate thought about it for a moment. He was right. She was a part of the family, every day she felt like she was getting closer to them, but still she wasn't sure that she really needed a key.

"Okay," she said eventually. "I'll take it, but it doesn't mean I'll use it."

Rick chuckled. "You'll use it."

"You sound rather confident about that Castle."

"Because I am."

Rick always was the one that had been most confident in the relationship. He had lost some of that confidence for a couple of days after she ran but she was glad he was getting it back.

Kate smiled. "Okay."

Rick took her hand and placed the key in her palm closing her fingers over it.

"Thank you Rick. For the key, for bringing me into your family, and for believing in us."

Rick cupped Kate's cheek in his hand stroking it gently, and then leant in for a kiss when she suddenly pulled away.

"What about Alexis and Martha?" she asked quickly.

"What about them?" Rick questioned.

"Well, how do they feel about me having a key? Do they know? They live here too, this affects them."

"Kate, I've already spoken to them both. They love the idea of you being able to come and go as you please. Hopefully without too much going and more coming."

Kate tried to hold back a laugh at his double entendre but couldn't. "More coming?" she said leaning closer with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, you know you want it that way too," Rick said seductively. He stood taking Kate's hand and pulled her up with him, then led her to the bedroom. Their wine left forgotten on the table.

* * *

_**Thanks for the continued reviews and welcome to the new followers! It's actually kind of crazy to think this story has been going for more than 100 days now. Seriously we're on day 104! That's like more than 3 months... 1/4 of the year! I'm not sure how I've even kept it up! But I think it's mostly because of you awesome peeps that keep encouraging me. **_

_**So, my friend asked me last night if I wanted to catch up today for coffee... and you know what... I originally freaked out thinking she had to have a word to me about something. Is that weird? Does anyone else do that? She laughed at me, and really she just wanted to have coffee. We did have some very interesting conversation though, and at one point I got nervous about the things she was asking me. **_

_**I just realised my calendar is still on July.. I'm not good at remember to change those things. It's really just there to look good, I don't pay any attention to it. Partly because it's an American calendar so gives me American holidays that I don't celebrate haha.**_

I'll see you again in another couple of days :) 


	53. Chapter 53

After spending the entire day Sunday relaxing with Rick and Alexis, Kate had spent Sunday evening at home before having to go back to work on Monday. She arrived at the precinct expecting to have a case waiting and was surprised to find that the team hadn't picked one up all weekend.

"Sometimes we're just lucky like that," Blythe said to her. "But I can guarantee we'll have a body before lunch."

"Right," Kate said. "Well, I'm going to go up to the gym. Call me if we catch anything."

She had decided that while she had a few hours to spare, she would use them wisely and get some extra training in. After about an hour she felt like she'd done enough and went to have her shower before returning to her desk. Taking the last few steps down to the homicide floor she noticed someone sitting at her desk. It only took a few seconds for her to realise who it was.

"Rick?" she said walking towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you coffee," he said, turning towards her voice with a take away coffee cup in his hand. "Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla, just how you like it."

"You've memorised my coffee order?" she said taking the cup.

"Yeah. You'd be surprised at all the little things I've noticed and remembered about you," he said. "Like your favourite colour is purple, you enjoy strawberry milkshakes, your favourite flower is the gerbera because they're bright and lively, you bite your bottom lip, like you are now, when you're either nervous or when you're…"

"Okay," she said stopping him before he finished the sentence. "Thank you."

"So, you got a case? Anything I can help with?" he asked with excitement.

"You really want in on a case, don't you?"

He nodded with a huge grin.

"Sorry to disappoint you Castle, no case at the moment."

"Maybe another time then?" he asked hopefully.

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. She knew exactly what he was up to. She remembered him mentioning a ride along back when they were in the Hamptons and she had a feeling he was searching for an invitation to join them on a case.

"We'll see. But if you've got nothing to do at the moment, I'd love for you to come with me somewhere."

"Where?"

"Trust me, you'll love this place. It's right up your alley."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go."

Kate quickly found Blythe and told him where she was going and that she would be back shortly. A few minutes later, she was leading Rick away from the homicide floor to go and visit Lanie.

* * *

When Kate entered the morgue Lanie was just writing up some details from an autopsy.

"Hey Lanie," Kate called out.

"Hey girl," Lanie said jumping slightly in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you this morning. What's up?"

"Not much," Kate said. "We don't have a case so I thought I'd stop by and see…"

"Kate," Lanie said, stopping Kate mid sentence. "Don't look now, but there's a guy just out the door, and he looks just like that author, you know the one? He writes murder mysteries. Really good looking and known to be quite the lady's man. What's his name?" She paused for a second, "Richard Castle, that's the one. Oh, and he's coming this way."

Lanie looked like she was going to burst watching Rick and trying to decide if he was just another nice looking man or if he really was this author that she thought he looked like. She didn't like the fact that Lanie had used the words 'lady's man' to describe him, but she knew him better than that. Nevertheless, Kate couldn't wait to see Lanie's reaction when she discovered why he was there.

Kate could hear footsteps behind her and she knew Rick had entered the room. Lanie stood in a stunned silence, her eyes looking like they were almost ready to pop out of her head as Kate heard Rick getting closer to them.

She quickly turned to face him before he got too close. "Rick, I thought I told you to wait outside. I was going to come back to get you," she smiled.

"But why would I wait outside, when all the dead bodies are in here," he said quickly walking over to some of the instruments on Lanie's desk. "This is so cool," he said enthusiastically picking one up and studying it.

Lanie finally found her voice again and was able to move. She took the couple of steps towards Kate and placed her hands on her arms. "That is your Rick?" she said quietly.

Kate nodded and bit on her bottom lip. "That's my Rick."

"Richard Castle is your Rick? Why didn't you say that? Oh my goodness. Seriously girl. He is fine."

Rick couldn't help but overhear the ladies talking and went to join them. "Hi, you must be Lanie," he said holding his hand out to shake it.

"Lanie, this is Rick. Rick… Lanie," Kate said as they shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Rick said and then moved to stand beside Kate with his hand resting on the small of her back.

"You too," Lanie nodded.

"So, you're a medical examiner right?" Rick asked. "Got any dead bodies in here?"

"Castle!" Kate scolded.

"What?" he asked. "I thought maybe I could do some research while I'm here."

"We came to meet Lanie, not to pick her brain."

"Oh, I don't need to pick her brain. I'd like to pick a dead persons brain though. Seriously, how awesome would that be."

"That's disgusting," she said shaking her head.

"Oh, I know," he said not losing any excitement.

"I can't believe you actually want to pick at a dead persons brain," Kate said screwing up her nose. She saw dead bodies all the time, but did not understand Rick's fascination with wanting to study them.

"I can't believe you love me, but you do," Rick shrugged and Kate couldn't help but find him endearing. "Some things are just inexplicable"

"You are a strange man," Kate said swinging herself around to stand before him and she wrapped her arms around his middle, "but you're right, I do love you." She reached up on her toes and kissed him before resting her forehead against his, completely forgetting where they were and who was around them.

Lanie had watched them stunned. She couldn't believe Kate hadn't mentioned that her Rick was the famous author, Richard Castle. She had to admit though, they were very cute together, and so very much in love. It was obvious they were meant for each other. Even when Kate was trying to be angry, annoyed or disgusted with Rick, it was obvious she actually found him charming.

Kate and Rick were not aware of how long they stood together but when they heard Lanie clear her throat they quickly parted remembering where they were.

"As cute as you two are and all," Lanie said. "I actually have a job to get back to."

"Sorry Lanie." Kate said. "I should probably get back to the precinct. We just wanted to stop by quickly to say hi."

Lanie smiled at her friend. "Thanks. Drinks again this week?" she asked.

"Hey, if you're not doing anything Thursday night," Rick said. "We're having family dinner if you'd like to join us."

Kate looked wide-eyed at Rick.

"If that's okay with Kate," Lanie said noticing the look she had given Rick.

"Yeah, that's fine." Kate said turning to Lanie with a smile.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be intruding."

"Yeah, no, it's fine. I guess Rick here just surprised me when he asked you. I'd love you to join us."

"Great!" Rick said, making it final. "I'll see you Thursday Lanie. I'm sure Kate can give you the details later."

"Thanks."

As they left the room, Kate turned to Rick, "You invited her to family dinner?" she said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I can find some way to take the offer back if you'd like. I didn't think you'd mind."

"No, it's great Rick. It's like I said to Lanie, you surprised me. I just wasn't expecting it. I never really expected you to want to be friends with my friends, it's actually really sweet. Thank you."

Kate smiled as she wove her fingers through Ricks, and placed a kiss to the back of his hand.

Rick turned and kissed her temple. "Always."

* * *

The next few days flew by fairly fast, Kate had picked up a new case Monday morning, just before lunch as Blythe had expected and it kept her busy most of Monday afternoon and night. She knew she had to try and do a better job of balancing her work and her life than she had done previously so she made sure she left work at a reasonable time on Tuesday to have dinner and stay the night with Rick. She was waiting outside the loft when Rick arrived home from a meeting and she knew immediately that he had been a little upset that she hadn't used her key to get in. She just couldn't bring herself to use it just yet. She'd held it in the palm of her hand thinking about it for a while, but for some reason she just couldn't convince herself to actually use it. As much as the loft felt like home, she could only focus on one thing at a time, and she was trying to focus on the balancing of work and life. She couldn't focus on moving in or taking steps towards that right now. She knew it was stupid and she knew she couldn't keep holding back from Rick, that she had to give him something after everything he was giving her, but she really hoped he would continue to be patient and she would get there.

Wednesday they had been chasing down leads all day and she was exhausted by the time she was leaving the precinct, so she had just gone straight home to bed.

Thursday morning came quickly, and she thought she was doing a fairly good job balancing everything. There was time for work, time for rest and time for Rick. She'd even managed to fit a phone call in with her father.

Rick had come into the precinct every morning with a coffee, even on Wednesday morning after she'd spent the evening with him. He said he enjoyed bringing her coffee because he loved to see the smile on her face when she took it from him. Kate thought it had more to do with him wanting to help with the case. Each time he came he asked the same questions. 'Can I help?', 'Is there anything I can do?'. He occasionally saw the white board and sprouted some wild theories about who he thought the killer could be. His favourite was 'the butler did it' but when Kate asked him why, his answer was simply, 'it's always the butler.'

Kate would never admit it to Rick but some of his insights had actually been quite helpful and she'd made sure to follow up a few things that she would never have thought of herself. Unfortunately, it still hadn't solved their case by Thursday evening like Kate had hoped. The open case wasn't going to stop her from going to family dinner this week though. She was determined to be there for the entire dinner this time.

She packed up what she had been working on and closed her computer down but was called into the Captains office before she left.

"Detective Beckett?" he said. "Going home?"

"Yes sir, I have family dinner. I can't miss this one."

Captain Montgomery smiled and Kate was a little shocked. She thought, for sure, he was going to make her stay when he had called her into the office.

"Well, I wont be keeping you long. I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done this week."

"But sir, we haven't even solved the case?"

"No, but your work. It's different. You seem to be more focused and relaxed, you're getting more rest which is good to see, I was always a little worried when you stayed so late, and well, this week you've been different and you've even come up with some interesting ideas. You've got an open mind and are thinking outside the box. I like that. It'll be very useful when it comes to leading your own cases."

"Thank you sir, but I actually believe you should be congratulating Rick. He's been stopping in every morning and seeing things that we've missed. Admittedly, some of his ideas are completely crazy, but some, not so crazy, so I've followed them up. "

"Well then, make sure you pass on my thanks. And now, I guess I should let you get to dinner. Have a great night detective."

"Thank you Captain," Kate said as she turned to leave.

Just before she stepped out of the office, the captain called out to her again.

"Beckett."

"Yes sir," she responded turning her head towards him.

"I hope Rick knows how lucky he is."

"No sir, I'm the lucky one."

* * *

Kate stood outside Rick's door for a moment. She could hear voices inside, it sounded like her father was there making Alexis giggle the way she remembered she giggled when she was younger. She pulled out the key she had placed in her pocket and stared at it. It was only a key. It didn't mean she was saying yes to moving in right away, it didn't mean anything more than what she already knew. Rick cared for her, he wanted her to feel welcome at all times. He wanted his home to be comfortable for her, that's all it was. And when she thought about it, that's exactly how she felt. She always felt welcome and was just as comfortable there as she was in her own apartment. It was just a key. She placed it in the door and turned, slowly pushing the door open.

Kate had expected Alexis to come running at her as soon as she walked in the door, but she was still pre occupied. Instead, she was met by Rick, who quietly walked towards her with a tender smile.

"You used your key," he said as he brushed her hair behind her ear and the cupped her cheek in his hand.

"I used my key," Kate repeated placing her hand over his.

Rick could sense her nervousness. Using a key probably shouldn't have been a big deal, but for them it was. It was like climbing up one more rung on a ladder, closer to the end goal.

"One step at a time," Rick said before leaning in to taste her lips.

They separated before either could lose themselves in the kiss knowing there were other family members nearby and Rick went back to the kitchen while Kate went to say hi to the others.

After Kate had said hi to Martha and Alexis, Jim pulled her aside for a minute. "I couldn't help but notice you used your key, Katie. Does this mean…?"

"No," Kate stopped him. "I still don't know about that. I'm thinking about it. I want to, and I know I will, I just don't know if I'm ready yet. We're just taking it step at a time. Let me get used to having a key, and then I'll think about what comes next," she said.

Jim kissed his daughter on the cheek and let her go again. He understood what she was doing. She'd been in relationships before where they had exchanged keys, but moving in was completely different. She'd never gotten to that stage before, so he could understand her uncertainty. It was a big step for her to have to let go of her own apartment and a lot of her belongings, especially when the relationship still was quite new. He had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she was ready to take that step, but he also knew she had to get there herself.

Kate went to join Rick in the kitchen to see what she could do to help but found that Rick was just about finished with getting the food ready.

"What time is Lanie coming?" Rick asked.

"She should be here any minute."

"Great. Dinner is just about ready. I hope you're hungry. I may have gone a little overboard again."

Kate laughed. "Isn't that what you always do?"

Rick lifted one arm over Kate's shoulders and pulled her into his side. "I guess I do."

Kate remained under Ricks arm and they worked together to put the finishing touches on the meal. It was like they were one body working together.

"The captain called me into his office today, before I left," Kate said suddenly.

"Really? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, he wanted to congratulate me."

"You solved the case?"

"No, he said I was thinking outside the box."

"Oh, _you _were, were you?"

"Don't worry. I told him it was all you. And I guess I just wanted to say thanks. We may not have solved the case, but your ideas have given us leads I don't think we would have found without you," she said honestly. "You're actually more helpful than I thought you'd be," Kate added now pulling away from his body and looking up at him surprising herself that she was admitting such a thing.

"Well, you know I'd still love that ride along."

Kate rolled her eyes. "We'll see. Let's just give it some time okay."

Just as they were about to start carrying the food over to the table there was a knock at the door.

"Kate, could you like to get that?"

As Kate made her way to the door, it dawned on her that she was now answering not her door, but his. It didn't matter that it was her friend coming to join them, this was still Rick's loft. She hadn't said yes to moving in yet, and she was already answering his door.

"Don't think I'm not on to you, Mr Castle!" Kate said as she reached the door.

* * *

_**Well Lanie finally met Rick. YAY! **_**_I know Kate is taking her time with the moving in thing but don't worry... I'm sure she'll get there. _**

**_I have lots of sewing to do over the weekend, and rehearsals for the show our creative arts academy is putting on... I'm hoping that I'll still be able to get some writing done as well.. it's going to be busy busy busy! Let's hope I get some sleep in there too!_**


	54. Chapter 54

"Hey Lanie," Kate said as she opened the door.

"Well, well, well. We're answering his door. Isn't this awfully domestic of you," Lanie said with a grin.

"Oh, don't you start too Lanie," Kate said.

Lanie was quick on the uptake and immediately gathered that talking about how comfortable Kate was in Rick's home was not a subject to be discussed. Perhaps, she thought, it was because of the other family members being around. Lanie made a mental note to pull Kate aside and talk about it later.

As Lanie entered the loft, she took her time looking around. "Wow," she said. "Nice place!"

"Thanks," Rick said as he passed the ladies on the way over to the table with a plate of food. "And hey Lanie," he called over his shoulder.

Lanie laughed, "Hey… uh." She looked over at Kate with a panicked expression on her face. "Do I call him Rick? Richard? Mr Castle? Wow, I've never had this problem before."

Kate tried to hold back her laughter but it was rather difficult. "Seriously? I introduced him as Rick, and he calls you Lanie, so I'm pretty sure Rick will be fine."

"I just, you know, first names. It's kind of… I don't know." She whispered in the hopes that Rick hadn't heard but it appeared he had exceptionally good hearing.

"Lanie, you can call me Rick, or if you prefer, I will answer to Castle. I actually think it's kind of cool," he said as he came back past them again to collect another plate from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready," he called out placing the last plate on the table.

As Alexis, Jim and Martha joined them at the table Rick introduced them all to Lanie. She was quite impressed by the manners of Rick's daughter and the maturity she exuded. She vaguely remembered Kate saying she sometimes seemed like the more grown up one in the family, and even after spending just a few minutes with them, she could understand it completely.

"So, this really is like a big family dinner?" Lanie said. "Do you do this often?" she asked as they sat down to eat.

"Yeah, once a week," Rick answered. "Kate makes it when she can," he added placing his hand over hers on the table between them and he leant over to kiss her cheek. "I'm glad you made it today," he said turning to Kate.

"Me too," Kate said smiling back at him.

"Me three," Alexis added excitedly.

"Uh, me four?" Lanie added and Alexis laughed. "What?" Lanie said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I wanted to join in and to be honest, it would have been a little strange if I turned up and Kate wasn't here. It'd be a little awkward really."

Kate nodded. "That's true."

After they'd all had dinner Lanie volunteered herself and Kate to do the dishes.

"Don't be silly," Rick said as he began collecting the plates. "That's what dish washers are for."

"Well, then let us stack the dish washer. Please, it's the least I can do after you fed me so well. Honestly, I don't think I've eaten a home cooked that good since…. Well since I moved out of home. And let me tell you, that was a few years ago now."

"You know you really don't have to," Rick said.

"Oh, but I insist."

"I can't really say no then can I?" he said now looking from Lanie to Kate. Kate just shrugged having no idea why Lanie had been so insistent, but guessed there was something more that Lanie wasn't saying.

Jim had to get going straight away, as he had an early start the next day so everyone said their goodbyes before Kate and Lanie started taking things back into the kitchen. Although Lanie had said she and Kate would do it, Rick followed with a handful of plates himself while Martha went to the lounge and Alexis went up to shower.

Rick didn't see the frown Lanie sent in his direction, but it didn't go unnoticed by Kate.

"Rick, you should go relax. Really," Kate said stroking his arm. "We've got this." She gave him a look that told him to give them a few minutes and so he did.

When Lanie knew they were finally alone she turned to Kate, "So, I've wanted to ask since you made that comment as I arrived today. Is there something you haven't told me? You are very comfortable here, and you seem to know where everything is. Just how much time to do you spend here?"

Kate took a deep breath and looked at her friend closely. She could see that she wasn't asking now to be nosey, but she truly looked like she was asking because she cared.

"He asked me to move in," Kate said softly.

"He did?"

"Yeah, but…"

"But what? Seriously? Look at this place!"

"Lanie, I love this place. But that's not all I have to think about."

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah, you know that."

"I know, I just like making you say it," Lanie said with a grin. "And you love his daughter, I can see that."

Kate nodded.

"And you and his mother get along fine. You're already like one big happy family. So tell me, what's stopping you?"

"It's too soon, don't you think?"

"Kate, I'm gonna slap you, girl. Seriously, when you think of the future, do you see Rick? This loft? Family? You're a homicide detective, you know how quickly the future can be taken away. Do you really want to wait and then find yourself living in a field of lost opportunities? Or worse, wait to long and then never get the opportunity to see what it could have been like here? Don't you just want to make the most of the now? I don't expect an answer. It's just something for you to think about."

They continued tidying in the kitchen silently while Kate thought about what Lanie had said. It didn't mean she was going to make her decision right away. Lanie was right, she didn't want to wait too long. She would move in, soon.

A minute or so later, Rick was rejoining them in the kitchen and Kate knew she would have to come back to her thoughts later.

"Are you ladies finished here? Mother is threatening to make me recite lines with her if I don't find something useful to do."

* * *

After taking Kate her coffee the following morning Rick had arranged a meeting with his publisher, Gina. She wanted to confirm details about his book and for some reason she wanted to meet in person rather than talk over the phone.

Rick walked into the little quiet restaurant and immediately found Gina sitting down at a table waiting for him. He went to join her and took his seat opposite her.

"So Gina, do you want to tell me why we had to meet here, and why we couldn't just talk over the phone. Or I don't know, meet in the office like usual?"

"Rick, didn't Paula tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Rick said raising his eyebrows in question.

"You've been away from the cameras too long. We needed to get you out in public."

Rick leant back in his chair and crossed his arms already irritated at the two women who had obviously planned things without telling him what they had planned.

"We thought we should at least let know people you're still alive," Gina continued. "Seriously Rick, what have you been doing? It's like you've gone into hiding."

"Gina, I'm sure you are aware of where I've been."

"Yeah, I might be aware of it Richard, but the public doesn't. You went to rehab and then on holidays, but you've been back for a month now. The public needs to see you."

"Gina, you're not my publicist, what does this even have to do with you?"

"I'm your publisher, which means your publicity efforts affect me too."

Rick huffed and shook his head.

"So tell me, what have you been doing?"

"Gina, it's none of your business."

"But it is."

"No, it's really not."

"C'mon Richard. What's going on?"

Rick didn't mind talking to Gina about his life when it was because she was concerned about him, but it was obvious that she was only thinking of her own pocket. He was her main source of income. Of course, there were other authors but none of them sold books like he did. He could be stubborn when he wanted to be, and that's what he wanted at that moment. He closed his mouth and didn't say a single thing.

"Ok fine, so how's the book going then? Are you still writing that new thing, the one about the cop?"

"Yes," he answered.

"And?"

"It's going well."

"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me? I'm your publisher Richard, you know your future is kind of in my hands here."

"Fine. The book is coming along brilliantly. I think it's one of the best things I've written. It's only really been a month since I've started really working on it and I've probably written half of the first draft. There is still a lot to go though, a lot more information to get from my sources. And I'm hoping to get a ride along with the NYPD detectives to help with some of the scenes."

"I'd love to read what you've done so far. We've been good to you Rick, you know we've given you time when you said you needed it, and we haven't pushed since you got out of rehab, but we are going to need to start setting deadlines again soon."

"Gina, did you know my little girl was in hospital the other week?" Rick said suddenly.

"Uh, Alissa?"

"Alexis Gina. It's Alexis!" he said angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Is she okay?"

"She is now, but I'm sure you can understand that looking after her was more important to me than writing or sending through anything that I had done."

"Yes, I understand. I do apologise," Gina said guiltily.

"I'll send what I've done through this afternoon."

"Great. Now, what do you say we order some food and enjoy some lunch?"

"And hope that someone takes our picture? I'd rather not." Rick asked standing up from the table.

"Richard, don't do this. You need this."

"No. Paula mentioned a fundraiser in a couple of weeks. She didn't mention any need for public appearances before then, so if you don't mind, I'm going to go have lunch with Kate."

"Kate?"

"Yes, Detective Beckett, the NYPD detective, you know, the woman I'm actually dating."

"Oh, so, things are still happening between you two then?"

"Yes and once again, that is none of your business."

Gina nodded and her body deflated beneath her. She really didn't think that relationship was going to last. Rick never kept anything serious with anyone, and she didn't expect this relationship to be any different. From what she'd heard Kate was not Rick's usual type, then again, he was writing about her, so maybe he was just doing it for the book.

"I hope you know what you're doing with her," she said without thinking and Rick heard the judging tone in her voice immediately.

"Excuse me?" Rick said shocked. "What I'm doing with her? You have no right at all to judge me and my relationships. But just so you know, Kate and I, we are serious. She's family, we've got something special, and I don't see that ever changing. Now, like I said, I'm going to go join her for lunch," and he started walking away without another word.

"You really love her?" Gina said softly, making Rick turn.

"Yes, I do."

"Then, I hope it goes well for you Rick. And I'm sorry, if Paula had told me Kate was still in the picture, I would never have agreed to this lunch. You're a good man Rick."

Suddenly, Rick realised what had been going on. He had a feeling Gina had been interested in him for some time, but thought it was all in his head. Now it was obvious though she'd been hiding behind this hard publisher exterior when on the inside she was just a simple woman looking for something more in her own life. Unfortunately, he wasn't the one that could give that to her.

Rick walked back over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I don't mind having lunch with you Gina, when it's simply lunch and there's not some other ulterior motive behind it. I'll send you what I've got of my draft so far as soon as I get home." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, not noticing the camera just a couple of tables away, and then left to find Kate.

Gina quickly left after him, not wanting to stay and eat alone.

* * *

"Rick, what are you doing back here? I thought you had a meeting?" Kate said as Rick walked over to her desk.

"It was a very short one," he said, not wanting to go into details. "Have you had lunch?"

"Uh, no, but Blythe has given me a list of things to do here, so I think I'm gonna be stuck here all afternoon," she said feeling a little disappointed.

"That's ok. I'll bring you lunch and then I'll help you on the case for the afternoon."

"Rick, you can't just decide to stay here and help on a case."

"Why not? I've done it before, and even you said I was helpful."

Kate couldn't argue. He had been helpful but those times, he was only there for half an hour or so. "Let me pass it with the captain."

"Well, how about I go get lunch and you go see the captain and we'll meet back at your desk at 1300 hours."

Kate laughed. "Rick it's not the army. You can say 1pm."

Rick saluted Kate as he walked over to the elevator, just having a little bit of fun. "I'll be back soon," he called as the doors opened and he stepped inside.

When he returned a little later with a couple of burgers Kate was in the captain's office and as soon as Montgomery spotted Rick, he called him in to join them.

"Detective Beckett tells me you want to help out with the case this afternoon?"

"Uh, if that's alright, it'd be good research for my books, and I'll even make sure to mention how helpful the NYPD was in all my publicity statements."

Captain Montgomery thought about it for a while.

"Well, Beckett here tells me it's you that has been coming up with some of the ideas with the case this week, so I'm going to allow this for the afternoon. You will need to sign some forms first, like you have done previously. You know, privacy stuff. And you will only be helping with the work in the station. There will be no going on runs out to any possible suspects. I can't put you or my team in danger. And Mr Castle, you are not to be a distraction to Detective Beckett, or any of the other team members. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir"

"Okay, well off you go."

Rick walked out of the office with a huge smile on his face. He was going to be a detective for the afternoon and he was excited.

"Beckett," Montgomery called out to her just as she was leaving. "Keep him out of trouble wont you?"

"Yes sir," Kate nodded.

Kate quickly went to talk to Blythe and explained what was happening before going to join Rick at her desk. When she got there Rick had already pulled a chair over and placed it next to her desk and was sitting in it waiting. She would have thought he was being extremely patient if it wasn't for his leg jigging up and down.

Sitting down on her chair she rolled herself closer to Rick and put her hand on his knee, steadying his bouncing leg. "Everything okay there, Rick?"

"It's Castle, Detective Castle."

Kate shook her head and rolled herself back again. "Detective Castle? Really? I guess we'll see about that."

"My detective skills are outstanding Beckett, just you wait and see."

"Well, Castle. I'm the one with the cuffs so no matter how good your detective skills are, they are staying within the walls of this building. And if you try anything you shouldn't, don't even think I won't use these cuffs on you."

Rick leaned in close to Kate and whispered. "You know, I wouldn't mind if you used them on me."

Kate tried to hold back the smile but when it was too hard to hide, she looked away so at least Rick couldn't see it.

A few seconds later she turned back to find a burger placed in front of her and Rick was sitting back again looking innocent in his chair.

"So, what have we got Detective?" Rick asked.

Kate explained everything to Rick and then started looking through files on the computer while Rick examined the white board. He managed to come up with a few more crazy theories, most of them were CIA conspiracies or some other crazy sci-fi type story, none of which were really plausible.

After a few hours Kate found something on the computer and immediately printed it taking it to Blythe.

From that moment, Rick had no idea what was happening. Blythe was up off his feet in seconds grabbing his jacket and soon Kate was back at her desk picking up her jacket and making sure she had her gun, badge and cuffs.

"I think we've got him Rick."

"Oooooh goodie, a suspect pick up," Rick said also standing and getting himself ready to go.

"You're staying here."

"But…"

"No but's. You heard the captain, you are only to help within the station. It's too dangerous for you out there."

"But what about you?"

"Castle, I have a gun. I'll be fine. Stay, maybe you can watch the interrogation, and see this guys face when he realises we know he is the killer."

"I wouldn't want to miss it."

Kate was just about to catch up with Blythe who was waiting at the elevator when Rick quickly caught her hand and pulled her towards him.

"Be careful," he said, and he quickly kissed her.

"Rick, not here," she said glaring at him. "I'll be fine. This is my job, it's what I do. Now can you please let me go so I can actually go out there and get this guy?"

"Sorry," he said letting go of her hand.

It was strange. He knew this is what she did multiple times a week. He knew she'd done it so many times before, but there was something about watching her go. Watching her as she prepared herself and made sure she had her gun and her spare piece. It made him realise once again, just how dangerous her job could be. He would feel better if he went with her but he also knew it could potentially be more dangerous if he was around, so instead he would wait and trust the team knew what they were doing.

It wasn't long before Kate and Blythe returned with their suspect in cuffs and led him straight into the interrogation room. Blythe entered while Kate went over to Rick.

"See, not a scratch. I'm fine," she said, and Rick felt his face immediately relax. He didn't even know he'd been so worried but obviously Kate had seen it straight away. "We're pretty certain this is the guy. You wanna watch from the observation room?"

Rick nodded and they made their way into their rooms.

Rick had seen Kate in the interrogation room before but this time she actually was more involved in it. It was amazing to see how much more she was able to do in there, and to actually see her in action. She was amazing. She tore the suspect right down and got her confession within minutes. Rick felt a sense of pride as the guy signed his confession. It wasn't pride for himself, but for Kate. She was incredible.

Once the suspect was taken down to lock up Kate had paper work to fill in before she could go home.

"I think maybe I'll just head home then," Rick said.

"Oh? You're not going to stay and help me with the paperwork?"

"Uh, I would," he said, even though he really didn't like the idea of paperwork. "But I have to pick up Alexis from her friends house. Maybe next time."

"What makes you think there'll be a next time?"

"Oh, come on Beckett. You know I helped with this case. I may not have found the final clue but you know I helped you get there."

Kate smiled. "Yeah, honestly, I'm not sure we would have solved it so quickly without you. Thanks Rick."

"Will I see you later?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

_**So, I think this story will be coming to an end soon, so I needed to somehow have Castle help in the precinct. Kate is still a very new detective so I still don't think it would be right for him to shadow her completely. I decided this was the next best thing. **_

_**I made super hero capes today! I cut out the material and sewed them together. I was so proud of myself! **_

_**I also came to the realisation today that I need to look after myself better. I've been feeling completely exhausted lately even though I'm getting 7-8 hours sleep every night. I realised it's because I don't eat properly. It's really hard to eat properly when you're just cooking for yourself all the time, so I think i just need to eat more vegetables, and maybe start taking multivitamins again... if anyone has some tips I'd love to hear them! **_

_**Oh... Shania Twain just started playing on my playlist... which reminds me of my insane wedding plans haha! I'm gonna have a Shania Twain wedding one day! It's gonna be the best! Feel free to ask about that too :) haha**_


	55. Chapter 55

Rick woke on Saturday morning in a strangely uncomfortable position. He remembered being comfortable when he went to sleep. Kate had been tucked into his arms, with their legs tangled together and their bodies had been keeping each other warm. Now though, his arms seemed to be trapped somehow above his head and Kate was nowhere to be seen.

When he went to move his hands, something cold and hard hit his wrists. He looked up to see cuffs around each of his wrists. Kate had handcuffed him to the bed and then just left him there.

"Kate!" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Kate! C'mon, where are you hiding?"

A second later Kate peeped her head around the door frame.

"What's wrong Castle?" she teased.

"I'm stuck."

"Really?"

"Yes," he pouted. "Come help me?"

"Oh, I don't know Rick. Last night you were pretty insistent on telling me that you could get out of anything. That there was nothing I could do to control you," she said as she walked towards the bed. "You said you were always in control."

Kate grabbed his feet and pulled them down so his legs and body were straight then began crawling up his body from his feet to his chest.

"So, tell me Rick," she purred in his ear. "Who's in control now?"

"Oh, Beckett, you like to think you're in control, but you haven't got me yet," he whispered back.

"Oh really?" Kate said running her hands down his chest getting lower and lower, making his hips jerk upwards.

Rick gulped. "Uh huh," he managed to get out.

"I think you're lying. It doesn't look to me like you have any control at all right now" she said beginning to rest her entire weight on him and rolling her hips over his own. She knew she had control, it was obvious because he was unable to say a single word, unable to even look at her. He was struggling to hold on.

Rick pulled on his hands again wanting to touch the woman in front of him.

"Ow, Kate… cuffs… hurt."

Kate laughed. "Admit that I won control and I'll let you out."

"Ok, you win." He again, gasped as Kate's lips found his earlobe. "You have control. Just don't make me stay like this. I need to…"

Rick stopped talking when Kate climbed off his body and walked away from the bed.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"You want out? I need to get the key. Then you can come help me with breakfast."

"Really? You're not going to help me finish what you started? You can't do that to me."

Kate smirked. "We'll finish it later. When Alexis isn't in the next room," she winked.

"Oh, right."

Kate came back over to the bed and uncuffed Rick's wrists before placing a gentle good morning kiss to his lips.

"I guess I should shower to fix uh, that," he said looking down at his boxers. "Then I'll come help you with breakfast." He walked over to the bathroom but turned just before going in, "are you sure you don't want to join me in here?"

"Later. I'll make it up to you , I promise."

* * *

When Rick made his way out to the kitchen, he was surprised to see Kate had already finished making breakfast and was sitting at the table eating with Alexis. He thought she would have waited until he joined them, but he wasn't upset, he liked that she was spending the time with Alexis.

He took a seat next to Kate and instead of placing a plate of food in front of him, she placed a newspaper in front of him. There staring back at him was a picture of him and Gina at the restaurant, and he was obviously leaning in to kiss her cheek but the angle made it difficult to see that that's what he was doing. Underneath was a caption, 'Richard Castle, out of hiding, and spending time with publisher, Gina. Is there something more here?' Well, that wasn't too bad, it could have been a lot worse.

"Read the article Rick," Kate said.

He quickly read through the article and was completely shocked at what had been written. Everything was completely wrong. They had said that Gina was now more than just Rick's publisher and basically implied that they were so desperate to get out of the restaurant they didn't even order before leaving to find a private setting for their more personal activities. They had one thing right, and that was that they left separately but they had the reason why they'd left separately enitrely wrong. They said it was to avoid people seeing them leaving together in the hopes they could keep things a secret, but the reason they left separately was because they were going their own ways.

"Kate," Rick said when he'd finished reading. "I'm so sorry." He was completely at a loss for words. He had no idea where the newspaper had got their information, he just hoped it wasn't a story either Gina or Paula had fed them. "You know none of this is true, right?"

"Rick, I trust you and I don't believe a word of it. I know you didn't mean for this to happen but, is this what I have to look forward to if people take photos of us together? Because I don't think I could handle that. I can't be seen like that, I don't want to be portrayed like, I don't know, a tramp. I'm sure Gina is not like that at all, but that's how the article makes her sound. What would the other cops think? It would affect my life in so many ways. My career could be jeopardised if people read things like this about me."

"Kate," Rick said pushing the paper away from him. "I don't know how this happened, but I will get to the bottom of it. And I promise, when the time comes, I will do my best to make sure anything that is printed about us is not some made up story." He placed his hand on Kate's knee giving it a gentle squeeze. She hadn't looked up at him since he sat down with her. "I'm going to talk to Paula. We'll get this sorted. I'll have the paper print a retraction. I'll have them print the truth, that I am in a relationship but not the one they made up. Your name doesn't have to be mentioned, nor does a picture have to be taken. I'll give them interviews, or whatever they need, but I'll make sure to keep you out of it, until you want in, until you're ready for it."

They were silent for a moment until Kate finally lifted her eyes away from the table and looked up at Rick. Since seeing the article when Rick was showering she'd spent so much time thinking about how this could affect her, she hadn't realised how Rick would feel about it. Now, looking into his eyes she could see he was hurt. He was upset too.

"Rick," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about how you'd be feeling about this. Are you okay?"

Rick shook his head. "No, I'm not okay. I hate this. I hate that people think it's okay to splash stories like this around. I hate that they make these things up and act like it's entertainment. I hate that I allowed it to go on for so long. I hate that I went along with the lady's man image from the start. Sure, it was great for publicity but now I can't get away from it. This is my fault," he said starting to feel angry with himself.

"Rick, this is not your fault." Kate said. She got up and moved from her chair to sit sideways on his lap wrapping one arm around his neck. "You were young when you wrote your first book. I'm sure back then you had no idea what the press would be like. The people you should be blaming are the ones that write these things."

Rick rested his hand over her legs and kissed her cheek. "How do you know I was young when I wrote my first book?" he asked, the resentment that was previously in his voice vanishing as he realised that maybe Kate knew more about his books than she had actually told him. He'd guessed she'd been a bit of a fan but had never pushed to find out, but now he was curious to find out just how long she'd been reading his books..

"Well I was still in my early teens, so you must have been young."

"So you know what my first book was?"

"In A Hail Of Bullets. Gosh, I must have read…" she stopped mid sentence and noticed the huge grin on Rick's face.

"You must have read…. What?" Rick prompted.

"Nothing."

"Oh, Detective Beckett, I had a feeling you were a fan," he smirked.

"It was my mother. She was a fan. I came across some of your books when we were in her office one day. And that's when I read them. Mom loved them, I wanted to feel closer to her, and I thought maybe if I read the books, somehow I'd feel connected with her again."

"And did you?"

"Uh," Kate looked down at her lap. "They helped me through everything that was going on. And yes, I think somehow we did connect through those books."

"Do you think your mum had something to do with us meeting?"

Kate found herself laughing at that. "No. You think her ghost orchestrated this? You're kidding right?"

"Hey, it's possible."

"No Rick, it's not." She kissed him sweetly to stop him from saying anything further on the subject.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

"So, the article?" Rick started again. "We're okay?"

"Yeah, we are, I never doubted you. I guess, it just frightened me to think of what could be coming my way."

"Well, I'm going to make sure you don't have to worry about any of that. I think it's time I sat down with someone and told them the truth. About who I really am, and what I've really been up to lately. I'm going to organise something. I'll tell them everything."

"What if it makes people walk away from your books? What if sales go down?"

"I don't care about that. You mean so much more to me than book sales. When you are seen with me, I want people to see the amazing woman that I see, not someone that the tabloids make up. Besides, this new book I'm writing, I just have a feeling it's going to sell well regardless of the publicity I get. The lead character is pretty remarkable. People are going to love her."

Kate looked down at her lap biting her lips as she felt herself blushing a little. She waited a moment before speaking again.

"Rick, that fundraiser, you said that was next week?"

"Yeah."

"I'd like to be there with you."

Rick leaned in kissing Kate once again, and she immediately opened to him allowing the kiss to deepen. They had completely forgotten about Alexis who had been silently sitting eating her breakfast throughout their discussion, until they heard a spoon drop into a bowl.

"Daaaaaaaaaad"

The couple jumped apart instantly and Kate was off Rick's lap looking embarrassed.

"Sorry Alexis," they said together, and Alexis just shook her head at them.

* * *

On Sunday, Kate was called into work in the early hours of the morning. The team had caught a case. As much as she had begun to hate sleeping alone, she was glad staying at home that night had meant she wasn't waking Rick with her leaving for work so early.

She arrived at the scene and found Lanie looking over the body. From a distance she couldn't help but notice the body seemed smaller than usual and she got a horrible feeling about it. This case was going to be tough.

Blythe arrived seconds after Kate and ran to join her as she walked towards Lanie.

"What have we got Lanie?" Kate asked.

"You're not going to like this one."

"I don't really like any of them, what makes this one special?"

"Take a look yourself," Lanie said taking a step back.

The victim was a child and looked as if she was in her pre teen years, but it was the hair that caught Kate unexpectedly. It was a shiny red colour and Kate's thoughts immediately went to Alexis.

"Kate? Are you okay?" Lanie asked as Kate gasped and took a step back.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. She just reminded me of someone."

"Do we have an I.D?" Blythe asked.

Lanie shared all the details that she had discovered, taking note of Kate's pale appearance. She watched her carefully and couldn't help but notice the distance Kate was keeping from the body. Usually she was right there with her, taking notes, getting everything down, but something had kept her at least a foot away at all times.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Lanie asked Kate after pulling her aside.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look like you're about to faint."

"Really Lanie, it's fine."

"Are you feeling ill? Should I call Rick? Get him to come pick you up? Maybe you shouldn't be here."

"Lanie, I'm fine," Kate starting to feel annoyed at Lanie's persistence.

Lanie raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Okay so I'm not fine. The little girl, she just, she reminded me of Alexis. She's got the same red hair and she'd be around the same age. I just, I guess, it just made me realise how cruel people can be in the world. Seriously, who would do something like that to a child?"

Lanie reached out and touched a reassuring hand on Kate's shoulder. "It's not nice when our victims are young, but you know what, although you may not be able to bring them back, you can help save other young girls just like her by finding the son of a bitch and that did this and locking him away behind bars."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right girl! Now you get out there and do your job."

"Thanks Lanie," Kate said with a smile and went to find Blythe for instructions on what to do next.

* * *

When Rick walked into the precinct a few hours later with Kate's coffee, Kate just about bowled him over and she ran towards him wrapping her arms around his chest.

"Woah, Kate!" Rick said. "I'm not complaining about you being attached to me, but how bout you let me put these coffees down first before I spill them down your top, and then I can also return the gesture."

"Sorry," Kate said quietly pulling back.

Rick quickly walked towards Kate's desk put the coffees down and then turned to Kate who had followed him and was standing right behind him. He could see immediately that something was wrong. She looked upset, and she wasn't standing as tall as she had been previously. She needed comfort, and that was something he was completely happy to give.

He pulled her in to his body again and held her tight in his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"What's wrong Kate?"

"We got a new case early this morning," Kate said into his neck.

"And this is how you are when you get woken up early. I'll have to keep that in mind," he joked, hoping to lift her spirits.

His joke worked and Kate pulled away with a half smile on her face and rolled her eyes.

"Really Kate, what's got you so upset? Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you call Alexis?"

Rick blinked in confusion.

"Yes, I can. But I'm curious why?"

"Our latest victim," Kate said took Rick by the hand leading him to the white board.

Rick saw the victim's picture and took a step closer. She looked so sweet, so innocent, and so young. He lifted his hand to the picture and studied it for a moment before he turned back to Kate.

"She's so young."

Kate nodded resting back on the nearby desk. "This young girl, what could she have done to deserve this? She's too young. There's so much life that she's yet to experience, and now she doesn't get to." As Kate spoke, Rick joined her leaning on the desk and placed his hand over hers for comfort and strength. She looked towards him and continued speaking, "When I saw her, I immediately thought of Alexis and I just keep thinking about her. And I don't know. I just think hearing her voice, the happiness and joy in her, knowing that she hasn't been corrupted by the evil in the world, I just think that it'll help me be able…"

"Shhh… Kate. I'll call her now," Rick said kissing her temple.

Kate hadn't realised there were tears falling down her face until Rick got up to stand in front of her and wiped them away. He pulled out his phone and dialled home knowing that Alexis would be there with his mother. He then remained standing in front of Kate as she spoke to Alexis on the phone and it made him happy when a smile reappeared on her face. He wasn't sure what Alexis was telling her, but it was obviously just what Kate needed.

"Thanks Rick," Kate said hanging up and handing his phone back.

"No problem." He put his phone in his pocket then placed his hands on Kate's hips leaning his forehead to meet hers. "Feeling better now?"

"Yeah. I should probably get back to work. Blythe gave me a few things to do."

Rick quickly kissed her and then walked back to her desk.

"I can stay if you want," he said as she took a seat.

"I'll be fine Rick, but I'd love you to join me for lunch. And maybe you can bring Alexis."

"Sounds great."

"But don't bring her up here, I don't want her seeing the murder board. Call me when you get here?"

"Okay, I'll see you later Kate."

* * *

_**So, I just have to point out that sometimes I realise my chapters are a bit randomly sorted out, but it's been like that probably all the way through the story so I'm just gonna deal with it. **_

_**Also, I have this interesting idea for a new story, drawing on a few things from my own history.. I'm not sure how it'll work but I'm tempted to give it a go once I've finished this one. **_

_**Now it's time for a shower... oh.. and I'm totally making banana cake tomorrow... i'm excited! haha**_


	56. Chapter 56

After having lunch with Rick and Alexis she had been feeling a lot better about the case and was doing her best to focus on catching the killer. The case had kept her at the precinct late into the evening and by the time she was finished for the day she couldn't wait to curl up in bed and sleep.

On the way down in the elevator she thought about how great Rick had been during the day. He had been so supportive of her and just held her when she needed it. She was struggling to get away from the thoughts of how great it felt when his arms were wrapped around her, and she knew she wasn't going to be going home to her own loft. Lying in Rick's arms is what she wanted. Plus she still hadn't made it up to him for the handcuffing the previous morning.

When she arrived at his loft, she opened the door without hesitation using her key. It was dark inside, so she guessed Martha and Alexis were in bed, and Rick was probably in his room waiting for her to either come in or call.

She entered his bedroom through the office and found his room also empty, but there was a light coming from under the bathroom door and she could hear a soft and deep humming coming from inside. As soon as she opened the bathroom door, Rick spotted her, stopped humming to himself and smiled at her through the mirror, but he didn't turn or say anything. He was in the middle of his skin care regime, which Kate thought was kind of adorable but, also unnecessary.

She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, rested her body against his bare skin, and placed a kiss to the middle of his shoulder blades.

"Hey," she said placing her chin on his shoulder. "Whatcha doing?"

"Exfoliating," he answered like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You know, I've never known a guy that spends as much time looking after himself as you do. You really don't need to. Your skin is perfect." She would have kissed his chin but she didn't think the idea of a mouthful of exfoliant would taste all that great.

"That's because I look after it," he said simply.

"Mind if I use the shower while you finish there?"

"Go ahead, you know I would never complain about you using my shower."

"Thanks." She slowly backed away from him, taking her time and running her hands over him making his body shiver beneath them.

Rick watched in the mirror as Kate undressed behind him trying not to make it obvious that he was looking. He knew when he saw the smirk on Kate's face that he hadn't been as inconspicuous as he had hoped.

"Too bad you've had your shower already Castle," Kate said biting her lip. "You could have helped me."

"Just say the word detective and I'd be happy to help you. There is nothing wrong with having another shower."

"You know, coming to think of it," Kate said entering the shower. "I could use some help washing my hair, it's been a long day, and my body is quite tired."

It took barely ten seconds for Rick to pull off his boxers and climb into the shower stall with Kate.

When Rick entered the shower Kate was facing away from him, but she felt his presence immediately behind her.

"What do you say, we have a little bit of fun before I help you with your hair?" Rick whispered into Kate's ear as he ran his hands down her arms and twined his fingers in with hers. When she made movement to turn around, Rick stopped her. "Nuh uh uh, not yet." It wasn't long before Kate was putty in Ricks hands, leaning back into him as his hands ran over her body. With one hand reaching up to pay attention to her breasts the other moved lower and lower and found the place right where she needed him. She didn't even hesitate to step her feet out wider for him, allowing him easier access and within seconds she was almost crumbling to the floor in ecstasy. If it wasn't for Rick's strong arms holding her up, she would have been a ball on the bathroom floor.

Rick held Kate until she was steady on her feet once again, then whispered in her ear, "Ready to go again?" He nibbled her ear as his hands began to make their way back down her body.

"Rick," she breathed out. "I need you, please," she begged.

He turned her body and pushed her up against the shower wall, and it wasn't long before her legs had found their way around him and he was pressing into her, until once again they both felt the wave of intense pleasure fill their bodies and they both collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Once they had recovered, Rick helped Kate with her hair and then they both fell into bed together using up the last ounces of energy they had left before they closed their eyes on the day.

* * *

As Kate's phone alarm went off the next morning Rick leant over Kate's sleeping body to turn it off. The woman sleeping beside him looked so comfortable. She was lying on her stomach with her hands tucked up under her pillow and Rick considered leaving her there without telling her it was time for her to get up. After some thought he knew she would only get annoyed with him, and decided it would be better for him to wake her, even if he didn't want to.

He pushed her hair away from her neck and then gently ran his fingers down her back like a feather as he placed a kiss between her shoulder blades.

"Kate," he said softly. "It's time to get up."

"Hmmm… Feels nice," she mumbled into the pillow without opening her eyes.

"C'mon Kate. Open those gorgeous eyes for me." He continued running his fingers up and down her spine as he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Don't wanna get up yet," Kate said. "Sleeping."

Rick laughed finding the sleepy Kate was actually quite funny. He'd not experienced it before, usually she was awake in seconds, and he wondered if maybe she was still half dreaming. The gentle kisses to her back and to her cheek had not woken her, so he decided he would try something he would use on Alexis when he needed to wake her. He shuffled himself down on the bed a little, placed his lips on Kate's back and blew a raspberry on her skin.

"Rick!" Kate just about screamed and her body jerked upwards. "What are you doing?"

"I'm waking you up. You're alarm went off, and even though I would love you to stay here for as long as possible I didn't think you'd be happy with me if I didn't wake you."

Kate rolled over onto her side to face him, and Ricked pulled his body back up level with her.

"Hmm… and that's how you decided to do it?"

"Well, you weren't waking when I was being gentle, and I just couldn't resist your bare skin," he said with a cheeky grin.

"You're just lucky that I love you."

Rick leaned in finally getting his good morning kiss, and Kate allowed him to push it deeper. She still wasn't ready to get up, and just wanted to enjoy every moment she had before having to go to work.

They were interrupted when they hear footsteps making their way towards the door.

"Dad, dad!" Alexis called out and Rick and Kate quickly jumped apart.

Alexis's voice was followed by Martha calling out to her, "Alexis, knock before you enter."

Alexis either didn't hear it or chose to ignore it because seconds later she was bursting through the bedroom door with a paper in her hand still calling out, "Dad, dad!"

Rick was quick to make sure both he and Kate were adequately covered so Alexis didn't see anything he didn't want her to and Kate hid herself behind his back.

Alexis hadn't even seen Kate until she was standing in front of them beside the bed. "Oh, hi Kate. I didn't know you were here."

Rick answered for Kate knowing that she probably didn't want to move from where she was. "Uh, yeah. She came in late last night."

"I'm sorry," Alexis said realising the awkward situation she was now in. "I probably should have knocked before coming in, shouldn't I?"

Rick nodded. "Now is there something you needed to show me urgently, or can it wait a couple of minutes. Kate and I just have to, uh… finish waking up."

"You mean you need to get dressed?"

Kate finally came out of hiding from behind Rick holding the sheets up around her and looking from Rick to Alexis with a look of shock on her face.

"Uh, yes, we need to get dressed," Rick said uneasily.

"It's ok dad, Kate. There's no need to be embarrassed. I know sometimes it gets hot and I sleep in just my underwear too," she said. "Here," she threw the newspaper down on the bed. "Grams and I are making breakfast when you're ready."

Rick watched as Alexis skipped out of the room and waited until her footsteps grew faint before looking towards Kate.

"That was close," he said.

"You really need to start locking your door."

"You were the last one through the door last night," he claimed.

"Oh, so now we're going to play the blame game?" Kate asked with her eyebrows raised.

Rick smiled and chastely kissed Kate's lips before responding. "Oh, definitely not. But you know what? I love that my daughter still has her innocence."

"You think she really thought we were sleeping in our underwear?" Kate asked curiously.

"Yeah, but we really should get up, get dressed and join them for breakfast before she comes back."

"Don't you want to see what she really wanted to show you?" Kate said picking up the paper that Alexis had thrown in front of them on the bed.

It was open to a particular page with a headline reading, 'Apologies to Richard Castle'. Below it, the newspaper admitted to jumping to conclusions about Gina and Rick and apologised. It also mentioned a full tell-all interview would be published soon in regards to what Richard Castle has been up to in recent months.

"You spoke to them about that already?" Kate asked surprised.

"Of course, I did."

"And you've arranged a tell-all interview already?"

"This week."

"How did you get them to print something so quickly?"

"I kind of threatened legal action. Plus when I mentioned giving them an interview, they would have done anything for me. But Kate, you know I did this for you too. This wasn't just about making things right for me. I wanted it all sorted out and for people to know what was going on before the party this week."

"You're pretty amazing sometimes, you know that?"

"Sometimes?"

Kate chuckled. "I couldn't say all the time, I don't want your head to get too big for your body."

After hearing Alexis call out to them again, Rick got dressed and handed Kate one of his oversized t-shirts along with some sweat pants. A few minutes later the couple had gone out to join the others in the kitchen.

Once they'd finished eating, Kate didn't leave herself much time to get ready for work, and it wasn't until she got out of the shower and went to get dressed that she realised she didn't actually have any clean work clothes with her.

Rick came into the bedroom to find her wrapped in a towel looking a little stressed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I have nothing clean to wear, and no time to go home."

"No problem," Rick said as he walked into his wardrobe.

"Rick?" Kate said following him. "I can't wear your baggy clothes. That'd be worse than going in wearing the same thing I was wearing yesterday."

"It's a good thing you don't need to," he said holding out a shirt and a pair of bootleg jeans. "This should be okay shouldn't it?"

"Rick? Whose clothes are they?" Kate said shocked.

"They're yours," he responded smiling.

"Uh, no, I don't think they are. I've never seen them before."

"No, that's because I only had them delivered the other day."

Kate was completely confused. She had no idea what was going on at all. At first she thought Rick was giving her some other woman's clothing, but now it sounded as if he was buying her clothing without her knowing, and was keeping them at his apartment.

"You had clothes delivered here for me?"

"Uh, yeah," Rick said nervously. "Look, I know I probably shouldn't have done it, but I wanted to be prepared if something like this ever happened. So, I checked your size, ordered you some clothes and had them delivered."

"Rick, please tell me you didn't buy me underwear."

Rick gulped.

"Rick!" Kate started walking towards him with a horrified expression.

"Okay, I know," Rick said backing up, until he hit a wall. "I know that was probably going too far, but…"

Kate said holding her fingers up to his lips quietening him. "I should be angry at you, but right now, I don't have time. I need to get to work."

"Well, the top drawer is yours," he said quickly before ducking past her and running out of the room, before she could catch him.

Kate shook her head after him. He was unbelievable sometimes. She knew she should have been annoyed at him, but she actually found it quite thoughtful and at that point, extremely helpful. She walked over to the drawers and opened the top one. She was surprised to find an assortment of underwear. Nothing fancy, all simple, every day underwear. So she picked some out and got herself dressed. He'd actually chosen really well for her, which made it even harder to be annoyed at him.

It wasn't until she was dressed that she realised once again what he was doing. It was like he was moving her in without moving her in. She now had clothes in his wardrobe and she had her own drawer. It may not have been things she knew about, but he'd still bought them for her, to keep at his loft.

She walked back out to the kitchen and found Castle finishing off making her a coffee and putting it in a takeaway mug.

"Look Kate," he said walking towards her. "I'm sorry, I stepped over a line buying those things for you. I should have asked, but I…"

"Shhh Rick. It's fine."

"Really, you're okay with it?"

"It surprised me, but it's who you are. You do crazy things for others, crazy but thoughtful. So, thankyou." She paused and looked at the coffee in his hand, "Is that coffee for me?"

"Yep. I thought this would keep you going until later when I visit you at the precinct."

"You know you really don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. I love visiting and bringing you coffee."

"Well, I really need to get going. I'm running late. Thank you again Rick," she said walking quickly towards the door.

Kate opened the door but then quickly turned around realising she had forgotten something. She ran back to Rick pecked him on the lips. "See you soon," she said and was out the door in seconds.

It wasn't long after Kate left that Rick's phone started to buzz, and he knew before he even looked at it who it would be.

"Paula," he answered. "How may I help you this on this wonderful morning?" he added with an overly cheerful tone to his voice.

"What the hell is this Rick? This retraction? What are trying to do to yourself?"

"Ahhhh, I take it you don't like what the newspapers are saying today."

Rick had decided he would remain calm for the time being about the whole issue. He planned on getting both Gina and Paula together and would talk to them later in the morning.

"Rick I don't know what you're playing at, but you're going to ruin your reputation," Paula said in frustration.

"Paula, I'm not going to get into an argument about this over the phone. However, I do believe this is something we need to discuss. I will see you in your office at 10am sharp. I will expect Gina to be there too!"

He didn't give Paula a chance to respond before hanging up and then when she tried calling back, he ignored it. Paula could wait. He had to get himself ready for the morning, and make sure he had enough time to stop in at the precinct with Kate's coffee before going head to head with the two women who seemed to want to make his life hell.

* * *

At 10am, on the dot, Rick walked into Paula's office. He didn't even wait for the receptionist to call and let her know he was there. He wanted to get this meeting over with and set some things straight about how his publicity would go from then on.

"Where's Gina?" he said as soon as he walked in, noticing the office was empty, other than Paula sitting at her desk.

"She's on her way. How about you sit down and you tell me what's going on Rick?"

"No thank you, I'd rather wait until we're all here."

Rick sat down and pulled out his phone sending a quick text to Kate. When he'd gone in to take her coffee she had been out and unfortunately he wasn't able to wait around. After the way he had organised this meeting, he wasn't going to be the one who would be late.

_'I'm sad I missed you this morning. Hope your coffee didn't go cold before you got it. I'm in a meeting with Paula and Gina but I'll come by again when I'm finished.'_

He smiled as he put the phone back in his pocket, not noticing how carefully Paula was watching him.

Paula couldn't help but notice how different Rick seemed. He was angry at her, that was obvious, but his anger didn't go any further than that. He wasn't letting the anger eat away at him, and what ever he was doing on his phone had made him smile. She wasn't sure what it was, but he was definitely different. She remained silently watching him when he pulled out his phone again, obviously reading a reply to whatever he had just sent.

_'Coffee was perfect. I must have only just missed you. Good luck in your meeting, and behave yourself! The last thing I want is to called to a double homicide and find you standing over the bodies.'_

Rick chuckled before sending a quick response.

_'If I call you first, will you help me hide them?'_

_'What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't? But you will owe me for the rest of your life.'_

_'Don't worry, I know a number of ways to thank you, and I'd be more than happy to do that the rest of my life ;) Maybe I'll even demonstrate tonight.'_

_'I look forward to it.'_

When he received her final text, Gina was just walking into the office.

"Rick," Gina said. "Do you mind telling me what this is about?"

"Sit down Gina," he said standing. "And Paula, you too," he gestured to the seat next to Gina. "I have a few things I wish to discuss with the both of you."

"Rick, this is my office. There's a few things I want to talk about first. Like that article in the paper this morning. I really think…"

Rick glared at Paula and she stopped talking immediately. She knew right then that he was not there to listen to what she had to say. He was there to talk and he wasn't going to be happy until they did.

Once Paula took the seat next to Gina, Rick started.

"First, let me get one thing straight. Yes, I am in a relationship. Yes, it is with the NYPD detective. And yes, the relationship I have with Kate Beckett is serious. It's not a fling, it's not something either of you can toss aside like it's nothing, because that relationship means more to me than any book or any publicity event ever will. Kate is family to me, and she takes priority over anything you guys have for me or want from me, got it?"

To say Paula was shocked would be an understatement. She'd never heard Rick talk about a relationship with such passion and determination before. He really did believe in this relationship.

Both Paula and Gina nodded, but before either were able to say anything more, Rick continued. "Now, about those newspaper articles." He paused. "Paula, you wished to know what I was doing by having the paper print an apology. You think I'm ruining my reputation?"

"Yes, you are. We've worked hard getting you all this publicity, and people love you, and now you're throwing all of that away?"

"Paula, I'd rather have no reputation at all, than have it continue the way it currently is. I should never have let it go that far to begin with. I'm not ruining my reputation, I'm making a better one for myself and saving Kate's. Do you realise how people will look at her if they think she is just another fling? I don't want people looking at her that way and I wont allow it. You, both of you, are in love with the idea of Richard Castle, but neither of you have even bothered getting to know who I really am. The same goes for the public, nobody knows me because I've been living behind a lie. And it's time all that changed. Sure, I lived it up for a while and it was fun, but it's time for me to grow up and be the man I'm supposed to be. So, I called the newspaper after the article appeared on Saturday, which I would still like to discuss, and requested they print the apology before I took legal action."

"You what? I don't understand what your problem is," Paula said starting to get angry.

"My problem? My problem is that my agent and my publisher care more about their own pockets and their own pay day than they do about the person who is actually making them their money."

"You know that's not true," Gina said, finally deciding to say something.

"Oh really?" Rick scoffed.

"Remember that conversation we had before I went into rehab Gina? Do you remember what you said to me?"

Gina sat looking stunned. She remembered what she had said, and it wasn't good.

"What was it? Hmmm…" he paused while he watched Gina squirm. "Oh that's right, 'Rehab is for people who have no life, you just need to keep writing. Your books are what's important'. That's it wasn't it? So, you cared more about getting the books out, you care more about your job that me getting better. You didn't care about the fact that I was allowing my life to spiral down the drain, that I was letting my daughter down. You didn't care a bit about me."

Gina sat with a guilty expression on her face. "Okay, it was wrong of me to say that, I'm sorry, but I don't see what that has to do with any of this publicity business."

Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm down the anger that just continued to grow.

"How about we discuss what happened on Friday?" Rick said. He didn't want to lose his temper too much with them. He just needed to get his feelings across.

"Nothing happened," Gina said rolling her eyes.

"Apparently you left before you even sat down for a meal," Paula added with her eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Yes, I did because I realised that you two had this who public outing planned and hadn't told me what was happening." He turned to his agent, "Paula, I believe you told Gina to meet me there for lunch rather than meet in the office. Did you also tell the guy who took the photo to expect us there?"

"Yes," she said without even trying to lie.

"I'd just like to know why?"

"Because your image was slipping. I've told you before. People need to see you."

"And they had to see me with Gina?"

"They had to see you with someone."

Rick groaned. "Well, if they're going to see me with anyone from now on it'll be with Kate. Gina," he said turning to her, "did you know about the camera?"

"I wasn't sure where they'd be or when they would be there, but I was aware that there could possibly be someone there."

Rick shook his head in disgust. "I can't believe you two," he really didn't know what else to say to them. "Paula, you mentioned a fundraiser on Saturday, and you had told me that showing up at this event was enough for now. You'll be pleased to know that I am going and Kate will be coming with me. However, I do ask that the press be told to give us some space, I do not want them following us. They can take photos as we enter, but after that we are to be left alone. If I hear them asking innapropriate questions or making unacceptable remarks about our relationship to myself or Kate I will have them removed from the event. Kate works with law enforcement, so don't think that I can't do it. Is that clear?"

Paula nodded. "I'll do my best."

"I should also let you know that I have also arranged an interview with a reporter on Thursday."

"You've done that behind my back?" Paula asked.

"You organised lunch and told a camera man behind my back,' Rick bounced back.

"Right. So what is this interview about?" Gina asked. "If it has anything to do with the new book, I need to know, because it hasn't been given the all clear yet."

"Oh, don't worry. This has nothing to do with the books. This will be about revealing the real Richard Castle."

"What?" both ladies asked.

"I'm going to tell them everything. I'm going to let them know who the real Richard Castle is. I'll tell them of my divorce, my rehab, I'll tell them the life they have seen me living is mostly a lie. Anything they want to know. I'll let them know."

"Richard, you know that could end your career. You tell them you've been to rehab and everyone is going to turn against you," Paula said.

"No, they wont. This isn't the end for me, it's the beginning of something even bigger."

He didn't say anything further, he simply walked out the door and left the two ladies completely stunned at what had just occurred.

* * *

_**So, I have to give a shout out to Shutterbug who pretty much convinced me to write the last half of that chapter. I wasn't going to write anything where Rick spoke to Paula and Gina... I was going to let you kinda decide in your mind how he dealt with them. To Shutterbug, I hope you're happy with what I did with it. **_

_**I also feel like I should apologize for my inconsistent replies to reviews lately. It's not that I don't appreciate them, I am just extremely busy at the moment, and spending all my free time writing, I don't always get to the reviews :) **_

_**So, I'm not sure if I mentioned this the other day, but I ran out of rum like 2 weeks ago... and I still haven't managed to buy any more *sigh* I'm not really a big drinker, but it's weird seeing the empty bottle up on the shelf. **_

_**One last really random thing... Facebook advertising is strange! Today it was advertising some sort of pants that help you lose weight... I really don't need to be losing any more weight. People are already starting to worry about me. And then it was advertising engagement rings... um? I don't want to buy myself one, that is just sad. **_


	57. Chapter 57

Throughout Monday and all day Tuesday Kate worked hard on the case doing everything she could to get justice for the young girl. The hardest part of the case was talking to the parents, and questioning them about the events of the past few days. She had to ask if there was anyone they knew that would want to hurt them or their daughter and the looks on their faces was heartbreaking. She couldn't imagine how they must have felt, and it only made her think more of Rick and Alexis.

On Tuesday afternoon she had gone with Blythe to talk to the others girls at the victims school, trying to find out if anyone unusual had been hanging around and had been given a range of different descriptions of men which made things seem even more difficult than they already had been. Some kids had described a tall guy, others said there was a short man. Some had said he was dark, others said he wasn't. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to sort through all the different descriptions to figure out if some kids were talking about the same men and she found there seemed to be two different descriptions that had been given multiple times. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a start. There wasn't a lot she could do with the information until the morning so she had decided to quickly go and visit Lanie before heading home for the evening.

"Hey Lanie," she said walking into the morgue.

"Hey girl, what brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd see if you've got anything else for me. I got a few descriptions from kids, I was hoping maybe you'd found something on the victim that would maybe link back to their descriptions. Narrow the possibilities down. I really want to close this one."

"Sorry, Kate. This guy was good. I've got nothing."

"Okay, let me know if you do find anything," Kate said with a sigh, and then pulled herself to sit upon the table.

Lanie looked at Kate and could see there was something else on her mind. There was another reason why she had come into the morgue to see her.

"Kate? Why are you really here?"

"I told you," Kate said trying to be convincing. "I was hoping to get something to help us close the case."

"C'mon girl, spill! What's on your mind?"

Kate sighed. "I'm kinda freaking out Lanie."

"This isn't still about moving in, is it?"

"No, no. It's this fundraiser thing."

"The NYPD is having a fundraiser?" Lanie asked. "I'm surprised I hadn't heard about it."

"No, it's not the NYPD. Actually, I don't know what it's for, but it'll be my first time in public with Rick."

Lanie's eyes widened. "Oh, that is so great," she said excitedly. "So why are you freaking out?"

"Lanie! I'm dating Richard Castle!"

The ME nodded slowly. "Yes, and?"

"I don't know what to wear, or how to act. There's going to be cameras, they'll probably start asking me questions as soon as I get in there. How do I deal with that? I want to be there for Rick, I really do. I just don't know how."

"When is this event?"

"Saturday," Kate answered.

"Well, it's only Tuesday, which means we still have plenty of time to find you a dress."

"Okay, but what about the rest?"

"Kate, you know I love helping you, but there are some things that I'm not going to be able to help you with completely. This is one of them. Have you spoken to Rick about this?"

"Not yet," Kate said looking down fidgeting with her hands. "I didn't want him to think that I was backing out of it."

Lanie stepped up closer to Kate and stood directly in front of her bending down to catch a look in her eyes. "Girl, you need to talk to that man. He's the only one who can help you with this stuff. He's been doing this for years, he'll know exactly how to behave. And you know what, he is totally in love with you, I can't imagine he'll leave your side the entire night, so he'll be able to talk you through everything."

Kate nodded slightly. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," Lanie said with a quick nod of her head.

"Thanks Lanie. I should probably go talk to Rick."

"Yeah, you should. And while you're there, ask him about the dress code. We'll make sure we get you something real special for the event."

Kate nodded.

"Talk over lunch tomorrow?" Lanie asked.

"Sounds great!"

* * *

When Kate arrived at the loft Rick and Alexis were sitting down eating dinner.

"Hi Kate," Alexis called out while Rick was finishing his mouthful of food.

"Hey Alexis," Kate responded as she walked over to the table. She walked past Alexis scruffing her hair before heading over to Rick and placing a kiss to his cheek. "Hey you," she said pulling back.

"You finished early today. Catch the guy yet?"

"No," Kate shook her head and picked up some food from Ricks plate placing it in her mouth. "Mmmm… this is good."

"And it's mine," Rick said trying to look mad but Kate could hear the smile in his voice. "Are you hungry? I saved you some."

"Really? Yeah, I am a little hungry," she said grabbing more pasta from Rick's plate.

"Hey!" he said slapping her hand away with a laugh. "I'll just get it for you. Alexis," he said looking at his daughter, "Make sure she doesn't eat _all_ my food."

As Rick went to stand Kate pushed him back down into his seat. "I can get it. You keep eating."

"It's just in the oven."

"Thanks."

As Kate joined them at the table once again she realised just how much she feels at home in his loft. Rick made it feel like home, and now he was saving her food, like he was expecting her to come back to him at night. A small smile crept onto her face as she began eating.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Nothing," Kate said dropping the smile.

"You're smiling. You're thinking about something, and it's making you smile. What is it?"

"Nothing," she insisted.

Alexis raised her eyebrows at her and joined in. "Kate, you know, if you don't tell dad what it is, he's just going to keep on asking, and you don't want that, do you?"

Kate looked from Alexis to Rick and then back to Alexis. She was pretty sure Alexis knew how to get answers out of anyone.

"Hmmm…. What if I said I was smiling because I was thinking of something funny one of the detectives said today?"

Rick and Alexis shared a look with each other, and then turned back to Kate.

"Nah," Alexis said shaking her head. "We're not buying it."

"Hmmmm… okay." Kate thought for a second. "So, it wasn't that, I was thinking about a complement I got from one of the kids I spoke to today."

"Really?" Ricked asked. "What did they say?"

"Uh," Kate paused. "They said I looked pretty." It came out more like a question than a statement.

Rick laughed. "Well you are gorgeous, but I know that you're still lying."

"C'mon Kate, what is it?" Alexis said.

"Fine. I was just thinking about how much this feels like home, it feels like family, and I love that."

Alexis grinned. "And we love you."

Rick was desperate to ask her if that meant she was going to move in with them but he had a feeling she was getting closer to making that decision herself without him pushing it so, instead he simply agreed with Alexis.

A little while after dinner and once Alexis had gone to bed, Kate was finally alone with Rick and was able to talk to him about the event happening on Saturday night. The problem was, she had no idea how to bring it up. She sat on the sofa spinning the glass she had in her hands looking down at the water it held.

"Kate?" Rick said softly. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you about Saturday."

Rick's face dropped. "You changed your mind?"

Kate quickly reached out and took Rick's hand in hers. "No, no. I want to be there. I guess I'm feeling a little nervous."

Rick looked at her inquisitively. "You want to talk about it? What's worrying you?"

"For a start, I have no idea what I'm supposed to wear to something like this. Is there a dress code?"

"Would it help you if I found you something?"

"That's sweet but I'd like to find something myself. Lanie is going to help, I just need to know what type of dress to buy."

When Kate looked at Rick, he had a look of rejection on his face.

"Rick, it's not that I don't like the things you buy me. I do, but I'd like to be able to surprise you."

The idea of being surprised by Kate made Rick smile. "Well, it's a black tie event, but you know what, I'm sure you could turn up in anything you wanted, look gorgeous and nobody would say anything."

"I can do black tie. Want me to wear a suit and tie because I can do that?" she joked.

Rick laughed. "If that's what you want, then I would love it."

"Don't worry, I'll get myself a dress," she assured him.

"Okay, what's next on the list of things that are making you nervous?"

"How am I supposed to act at these things?"

"You don't need to act at all. You just need to be yourself."

"That doesn't sound too hard. And if the paparazzi there, and they start asking me questions? What do I do about that?"

"Kate, I'm going to be with you every step you take in that place," he said as he wrapped his arm around Kate pulling her into his side. "I won't let you out of my sight, so you won't need to answer any questions. I'll answer whatever they throw at us."

"Yeah, but what if you happen to go to the bathroom, and someone catches me alone? Then what do I do. I can't exactly follow you in or you know what stories that will cause."

"Well, if I happen to need the bathroom and you are alone and someone asks you something you're not comfortable answering, then just say 'no comment'."

"What if they think that's rude?"

"They wont think anything of it. They ask so many prying questions that they come to expect a 'no comment' from time to time."

"Okay."

"Kate I don't think it should be a problem though. I've told Paula that I do not want anyone following us once we are inside, and anyone who does bother us will be thrown out. I may need some of your cop friends to help me out on that one. They can be our bodyguards for the night."

Kate's eyes widened. "You think we'll need body guards?"

"No, no," Rick caressed her arm. "I was joking. I'm sure it'll all be fine." When he felt Kate relax in his arms again he kissed her temple and asked, "Anything else?"

"I don't think so. As long as you're by my side, I think I'll be okay."

"You know there's really no pressure to go. Of course, I would love you to be there. I'd love to show you off to the world, and let them know that Richard Castle has found the one. But, if you're not ready, then I understand."

"Nothing could stop me from being there with you," she said snuggling more into his side. "It doesn't matter if I go to this one or if I wait another three years, I'm still going to be nervous for our first time going out as a couple together in public."

"I understand," Rick said before placing a kiss to her temple. As he began tracing circles on her knee with his free hand he began picturing the night with the two of them together. It was going to be amazing. He couldn't wait to show people just how much in love they were. So many doubted his ability to actually love, and at one point, he really wasn't sure he was ever going to experience a love like he had with Kate.

* * *

The following morning at work had been fairly slow but by the afternoon things started happening and Blythe and the team were going out to pick up the suspect. They had expected him to be alone, but going into an unknown place they had to be safe which mean having at least four detectives enter the building dressed with their vests on and weapons in their hands.

One of the other detectives knocked down the door when there was no answer but found no one in the room. They all went in slowly and carefully checking each of the rooms until they came to the last room at the back of the house.

Blythe entered first, followed by Kate and they were immediately surrounded by six men, including their suspect, pointing guns at them.

"Put your weapons down boys. We just need to take Billy Robertson."

"I'm not going, I didn't do anything," Billy replied.

"Well, come down to the station. We just need to ask you some questions."

Billy shook his head and took a step closer.

Kate stood looking down the barrel of a gun, she'd never seen a rifle so close, pointing at her directly between the eyes. Her heart was racing, and her legs beneath her had begun to feel a little shaky.

A second later the other 2 detectives joined them all in the room.

Still outnumbered Blythe knew making a move would put his entire team at risk of getting hurt. So, he had to be smart about it. He could see Kate's hands starting to tremble as she stood next to him, it was only slight, but he was trained to notice this sort of thing. She was doing her best to stay strong, and she was doing extremely well considering this was the first time something like this had ever happened. He remembered the first time he'd encountered something similar, he dropped his gun immediately and fell on the floor. Kate was going to make an excellent detective one day.

"Okay boys. How about we all put our guns down together? You know there's more of us coming," he lied. "Eventually this will have to end, let's not have anyone get hurt."

One of the men put his gun down and another followed. One of the detectives walked them out of the room and cuffed them, to prevent them from going anywhere or doing anything.

"C'mon Billy," Blythe said. "You don't want to do this. If you've done nothing then maybe you can help us find the person who did. Then this will all go away."

Billy once again shook his head.

"Billy," Kate said with a slightly shaky voice. She knew Billy had a younger sister, and she had an idea of how to get through to him. "You've got a younger sister right?"

He nodded.

"And you'd want to protect her?"

He nodded again.

"Well, if you come with us, if you help us. We can help you protect her. We can catch the guy who's hurting young girls just like her. We can keep him away from her. But we can't do that if you don't tell us what you know."

"He'll come after her," he said shaky.

"Who will Billy?"

"I can't tell you, he'll get her."

Kate bent down and put her gun on the floor then kicked it behind her so she could no longer reach it, hoping it would get the others to put their guns down.

Blythe wasn't sure what Beckett was doing. Sure, she was getting through to Billy but it was like she had almost forgotten about the other 3 guys with guns pointing at them.

"Billy," she stepped forward towards him, seeing the pain in his eyes. "You know something don't you? He's hurt her before? Put the gun down and I promise you we will do everything we can to help you and your sister."

Billy hesistated briefly before he placed his gun on the ground beside him and soon the other men in the room followed.

* * *

"You were great today Beckett," Blythe said as he walked past her desk on his way out.

"Thank you Detective."

"Time to go home now."

"Yeah. Home. Thanks."

Kate picked up her things. Home. Home was becoming less about a building where she slept and where she kept her belongings and she found home was the person she found herself wanting to run to at the end of a hard day. Home was the person she could see herself waking up beside every morning. Home was the person who she knew would let her cry, and would hold her as long as she needed it. Home was Richard Castle.

* * *

_**So, I've spent the last 8 hours hand sewing fixtures to dance costumes... and I'm still I wanted to get this chapter up so I thought I'd take a break from press studs and sequins to post it. I didn't get a chance to edit it the way I usually do so hopefully there's no mistakes. If you see anything, feel free to let me know and I'll fix it tomorrow. :) **_

_**4 costumes to go then bed time!**_


	58. Chapter 58

Kate entered the loft to find Martha sitting watching television. She had hoped to be able to head straight on through to Rick but, Martha saw her as she entered the loft and quickly got up to greet her.

"Kate, how are you doing dear?" Martha said reaching out to embrace her.

"Good, thanks Martha. How are you?" she said wanting to keep it short, but not wanting to be rude.

"Just lovely. Can I get you anything?"

"Actually, it's been a long day, and I'm a little tired…" she started to say.

"Say no more. Richard is in the office."

"Thanks."

Quietly, Kate walked over to the office door and pushed it open. Rick was sitting at his desk looking like he was concentrating deeply on what he was doing. He didn't even notice as Kate entered the room. She didn't want to disturb him at first, as much as she just wanted to be held, she enjoyed watching him work.

She stood there silently watching him, noticing every little thing about him. The way his eyes lit up when he thought he had a great idea, the way they squinted when he was trying to figure out how to word something or solve a problem, the way he smiled when he was happy with something he'd written, and then there was the look that told her he had just written something a little more salacious. She closed her eyes and took in the sound of the clicking of his keys, and the scent that she had come to know as his. Then suddenly her mind went back to the gun pointed directly in her face and she let out a startled gasp and her eyes flashed open.

Rick heard the noise come from the doorway and looked up to see Kate, standing there, looking like a deer in headlights. He was off his seat, running over to her and pulled her into his arms within seconds.

"Kate," he whispered into her ear as she began crying into his shoulders. "Kate, what's wrong?"

She didn't respond, she couldn't. All she could think about was how she could have lost everything that day.

Rick continued to rub circles on Kate's back, until she was beginning to calm down, then in one swift move, he lifted her up into his arms in a bridal hold and walked them to the bedroom. He sat on the bed, continuing to cradle her in his arms until she was ready to talk.

"Shhhh…. Kate. It's okay, I'm here," he said softly.

Kate eventually pulled back from his chest and noticed she had left the wet patch where her tears were falling on his shirt. "Sorry," she said.

"No need to be sorry. Want to tell me what's wrong? What happened today?"

Kate told him the story of what happened when they went to pick up their suspect and Rick sat simply listening. He didn't interrupt her and he just supported her the best he could, with gentle squeezes to her hand and caressing her back or knee.

Even though Rick was scared for Kate, he knew she didn't need to see that side of him at that moment. She needed support more than anything. "Kate, nobody got hurt. You sound like you were amazing today. I am so proud of you."

"But, I realised, I could have lost everything. And I know we've said a lot to each other Rick. You know I love you but there's just so much more to it than just love. You're my rock, and honestly, I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you. You're the one that can calm me when things are going crazy, you're the one I want to talk to when I'm hurt, or down. It's all you. You're the only one who can make me laugh and smile the way you do. And if anything ever happens I just wanted you to know that."

"Now you're scaring me?" he said. "You're not going anywhere Kate. You're here, you're safe. And from what I have seen, and what I've heard, you are a damn good cop, and you're going to be here for a very long time. You don't need to be thinking like this."

"I know but what if…"

"No what if's," he interrupted. "This right now, you being here with me, this isn't going to end any time soon."

"Rick, you know my job is dangerous, you said it yourself. Would it make you feel better if I wasn't working as a detective?"

"You know I would love you either way. It's obvious you got a fright today, but you got through it, and you know what? I don't just think you can do this, I know you can. Yes, I am sure to worry from time to time but I'm proud of what you do, and I think you are too. You are getting dangerous people off the street, and you are magnificent at it. It's what you were made for. Don't let one day dictate the rest of your future. Think about all the other cases you've solved, think about the victims you have already helped, the families you have given answers to. And then think about the young girl who is lying on Lanie's table. You could be the only one who will be able to get justice for her. Don't give up on her."

Kate nodded.

"And Kate, think about your mom. I know you want answers for her, and I believe one day, you will find them. But only if you continue doing what you're doing now."

Kate looked up at Rick and kissed him softly. "Thank you. You really are incredible."

Rick lifted his hand to Kate's cheek and wiped away the tears that were left drying on her cheek. "How about we clean up and get some sleep?"

When Kate simply smiled Rick got himself up off the bed, took Kate's hand in his and pulled her along with him to the ensuite. Side by side they washed their faces, and brushed their teeth, preparing themselves for bed. As Kate let her hair out, Rick went back into the bedroom and when she came out she found Rick had stripped down to his boxers and was placing a t-shirt over his head. He had placed another t-shirt at the end of his bed along with a pair of night shorts.

"For me?" Kate asked.

"Yeah."

She quickly got dressed and was soon climbing into bed beside Rick. Usually she was the first one to roll over to him but this time, he rolled to her and then pulled her against his side, so she quickly adjusted herself to be more comfortable with her head once again on his chest.

Rick ran his fingers up and down Kate's arm while he listened to her breathing. He wanted to be sure she was calm and asleep before he closed his eyes himself. She'd had a big day, he needed to know she was okay.

For a while Kate was still, but eventually she shifted slightly, and rested her chin on Rick's chest over her arm so she could see his face.

Rick could see she looked pensive, like something was on her mind. "You okay?" Rick asked.

"When did you know you loved me?" she asked quite out of the blue.

Rick was surprised. It wasn't the question he was expecting, but it didn't take long for him to answer. "You know, from the moment I first saw you, I knew there was something very special about you," he said as he brushed the hair from her face to rest behind her ear. "You intrigued me. I wanted to know more about you, I wanted to know everything there was to know about you." When Kate smiled up at him, he smiled back and then continued. "I guess, the moment I first realised I was really falling in love with you was when we were at the aquarium and you told the story about you and your mom. You didn't leave my side all day, and you know, I really didn't want you to. That day, I knew I wanted you by my side, and I didn't want you to leave."

With her free hand Kate reached out to twine her fingers with Rick's and pulled their joined hands closer to their bodies.

"How about you?" Rick asked after a moment of silence.

"Come with me, I want to show you something," Kate said and she rolled herself out of bed. Rick wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he followed her as she had asked.

When Kate left the bedroom she was happy to see that Martha had gone upstairs, it meant she and Rick still had some privacy.

She told Rick to sit down while she looked down in the cupboard and pulled out the video footage they had all watched together of Rick's younger days.

Rick was completely confused having absolutely no idea what Kate was doing.

"Kate?" he asked. "This isn't…"

"Shhh… just wait," she said going back to sit next to Rick.

Kate fast forwarded the video until she got to the footage of his book signings. "Just watch," she said as she pressed play again.

When it got to the part of the video where she was talking to Rick, she paused it.

"Kate, is that…?"

"Me? Yes," she nodded.

"What, why didn't you say anything the other night?"

"I guess I was embarrassed."

"I'm so sorry. I can't believe I don't remember meeting you." He was completely ignoring the fact that this was proof that she was a fan, he was just shocked that she had actually been to one of his signings, maybe more, and he never remembered her. He'd met so many people those days, he realised he probably didn't even look up to see half of their faces.

"It's okay. Before then, I only knew the you the tabloids showed, but on this day, I realised there was more to you. It wasn't long after my mothers murder and you said something I would never forget. You said, 'Stop searching with your eyes and search with your heart. All the answers you need are within you'."

"I think I remember saying that. I remember you looked sad, like you were looking desperately for something "

"I was, I just didn't realise what I was searching for was right in front of me. What you said was profound, and I didn't completely understand it, but now, after all these years, it finally makes sense. But that moment, that was the moment I first loved you, I loved you as a writer, you could say I became a bit of a fan girl," she said with a chuckle, and Rick squeezed her thigh with a smile before Kate continued. "And then when I met you again, not as a writer but as a broken man recovering in rehab, I got to know more of the real you. And when we went to the Hamptons together I knew that there was really no hiding yourself from me, that what I had come to know of you really was the true you, not the guy the papers made you out to be. I guess I realised I was falling _in love_ with you at the aquarium too. Although I wouldn't admit it, not even to myself. But sharing those stories with you at the aquarium," she paused and looked up at his face. She locked her eyes with his and there was such a deep level of wonder, awe and love that it made her heart flutter a little. "Sharing those stories at the aquarium," she repeated, "I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't already falling for you."

She lifted herself to kiss him gently. He was speechless, which was unusual for him, but it made Kate smile. She liked that she was able to surprise him like that.

"I will admit though," she added. "At first, when I saw you in the centre, I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I knew you from. I can't believe I didn't realise sooner."

"Yeah, well, I don't think I was looking my best while I was in there, so it's understandable," he responded with a laugh.

They smiled at one another before Rick made a movement to stand up again, and reached out his hand.

"Thank you for sharing that with me Kate, what do you say we head back to bed and get some sleep now?"

Kate took his hand, and then melted into his side as they walked back to the bedroom feeling more connected than they ever had before.

* * *

In the morning both Rick and Kate were woken by Kate's phone ringing beside them.

"Kate is that your phone?" Rick grumbled out.

"Yeah, sorry," she said reaching out to pick it up without leaving her place in the bed. "Beckett," she answered.

As Kate listened on the phone Rick wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer to his body. Once again, he didn't want her to get up.

"Sorry Rick," she said as she hung up the phone. "Some things have turned up at the precinct, I need to get going."

"Right now?" he asked nestling into her hair.

"Yes, right now. It's time for me to get justice for that young girl."

Rick couldn't really argue with that. It was him who encouraged her the previous night. He was glad she was feeling more confident again. He reluctantly let Kate go and she crawled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom getting herself ready for the day.

Kate was surprised when she came back to see that Rick had also gotten himself out of bed, she thought he was going to go back to sleep straight away. She found him in the kitchen with a take away coffee and a cheese and ham bagel sitting on the bench.

"Rick, did you make me breakfast to go?"

"Yeah, I didn't want you going to work with an empty stomach," he said as Kate walked towards him.

"Thank you, it looks wonderful."

Rick opened his arms out to her and Kate stepped into his embrace and just remained there for a while. She was amazed at just how well he knew her, and what she needed. Somehow standing there in his arms was what she needed to build the strength and belief in herself she would need to get through the day.

When she stepped out of his arms, he held both her hands in his and leant forward to kiss her forehead. "I'll see you a little later," he said softly as he looked into her eyes.

Once again, Kate's ability to believe in herself was made stronger when she saw in Rick's eyes how much he believed in her. She allowed Rick to walk her to the door and he gave her one last kiss. "Go kick some killer ass today Beckett," he said, making her smile as she left the loft for the day.

Before Alexis woke up Rick got some tidying done around the house. He put on a load of washing and felt extremely joyful when he realised he was washing Kate's things in amongst his own. Once all that was done and Alexis still wasn't up, he decided to get a head start on getting himself ready for the day. Today was the day of his big interview with the press and he wanted to be prepared.

* * *

Rick didn't make it into the precinct that morning, due to the interview taking up a lot more time than he expected. It was good though, it mean that they got more information, more truthful information and they wouldn't have to make up stories.

As soon as the interview was finished, he made his way into the precinct with Kate's coffee hoping she would be there. He really wanted to talk to her and tell her how it all went.

When he arrived he found her sitting at her desk, filling out paper work. She didn't notice he had arrived until her coffee was placed in front of her.

"You," she said turning to see the writer smiling down at her, "are a life saver. I think I'm going to need this if I'm going to get through all this paperwork before I leave today."

"Did you catch the guy?"

"Yeah, we got all the information we needed yesterday from Billy, got some evidence to back up the story and we got the guy."

"I knew you would," Rick replied placing a kiss to her temple. "So, do you have plans tonight?"

"Dress shopping with Lanie."

"Can I come?" Rick asked excited. " I can be very helpful." He leaned in close to her ear, "especially in the dressing room."

Kate placed her hand on his chest and pushed him away. "No."

"Why not?" he pouted.

"Because I want to be able to surprise you. And besides, it's a girls shopping date. Last time I checked, that definitely didn't include you," she said looking down at his pants.

"Oh you got that right. I'm definitely all man," Rick responded waggling his eyebrows.

"Actually, I was thinking," Kate paused briefly, "what is Alexis doing tonight? Maybe she'd like to come shopping with us, we wont be too late."

Rick responded softly. "I can't believe you went from talking about my manhood to talking about my daughter."

"I would think that your daughter is proof of said manhood, therefore, it seemed a rather appropriate segue," Kate replied equally as soft.

"I guess I can't argue with that," Rick said with a shrug.

"So, what do you say?"

"I think Alexis would love to spend the time with you and Lanie."

"Great, and don't worry I'll make sure she's on her best behaviour."

"Alexis? Do you really think you have anything to worry about?"

Kate laughed. "No, I was talking about Lanie."

"Well, I'll call home and let Alexis know to be ready for 5?"

"Sounds great."

Rick went to make the phone call in the break room before returning back to Kate's desk with a chair for himself.

"This chair needs to stay here," he said. "Then I wont have to keep bringing it over every time I visit."

"Rick, I'm doing paperwork, are you seriously going to stay and watch?"

"Yeah. If you're going out with Lanie tonight, I want to spend some time with you now. Plus I want to know more about how you closed the case."

"How about first, you tell me about your interview? How did it go?"

"Well, they asked more questions than I expected but, I guess that's a good thing right? It means they got more of the story."

"Yeah, that's a good thing. What did they ask about?" she asked unable to hide the slight nervousness in her voice.

"Hey Kate," Rick said placing his hand over hers. "I know you're worried about what they're going to say about you, and about us. And you know I wish that I could keep you out of everything. If there was a way to do that, I would. But we both know that would be impossible unless we go into hiding for the rest of our lives, and I don't think either of us want that. But telling them about us now is the right thing before they're able to make up their own stories about you. I didn't mention your full name, and I didn't tell them you were a detective with the NYPD. They don't need to know all of that, I just told them that I was committed to this relationship and I wasn't going to let anything come between us."

Kate placed her free hand over his. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For understanding. So, I know you were going to tell them about your time in rehab. Other than that us what else did you talk about?"

"I told them about the real Richard Castle and who he really is."

"And who is he?"

"He's the guy you found, the one that you've pulled out of hiding. The guy sitting right here, who believes in love, family and life. He's a guy who believes a person's life is about more than success. The guy who believes one person can make a difference to many others."

Kate was smiling over at Rick with such admiration. At times she still found it hard to believe that out of all the women in the world that he could have, he wanted her.

He was silent for a second before adding, "He's also the guy who thinks you should come out to dinner with me tomorrow night."

Kate let out a small chuckle.

"What do you say?" Rick asked. "Just me and you. I'll get Martha to watch Alexis."

"Me, you and dinner? How can I say no?"

"Awesome, so I'll arrange dinner for around 7 then?"

"Actually, I have a better idea. Since you've been feeding me so well lately, how about you join me at my apartment and I'll cook you a meal."

"Sounds perfect. But you know, you can't have dinner without dessert."

"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of dessert," Kate whispered into his ear.

"I can't wait."

* * *

_**I know there's not a lot there about the interview, don't worry... that probably won't be the last you hear about it. **_

_**Did you know you can order beer hampers online? I just got one for my dad for his birthday. It's hard to find a present he would like that I can send to him because he lives on the other side of the country, so I googled beer hampers and there's quite a few options. YAY! He's gonna love it!**_

_**Also I realised my stomach makes more noise when I eat unhealthy food... I should stick to healthy stuff! **_


	59. Chapter 59

Kate and Lanie arrived at the loft just after 5pm. When they knocked on the door Alexis answered within seconds.

"Dad," Alexis called out. "Kate and Lanie are here. I'll see you when we get back."

Rick came running from the kitchen just before Alexis close the door behind her. He put his foot in the door stopping it and then pulled the door open. "Hey," he said, making all three women turn back to him again. "You weren't even going to come in and say hi?" he directed at Kate.

"Rick, we were both at the precinct together not long ago."

"I know, but I…"

Kate didn't let him finish speaking, stopping him with a chaste kiss to the lips.

"I'll be back later," she said as she pulled back. She then wrapped her arm around Alexis's shoulder as they walked over to the elevator.

Rick watched from his door until they entered the elevator. He love the way both Kate and Alexis interacted with each other. They had such great smiles on her faces and it would have been obvious to anyone that Kate loved his daughter.

Alexis quickly waved back at her father as the doors of the elevator closed and then turned to Kate and Lanie. "So, where are we going?"

"I need to find a dress for Saturday night," Kate said.

"Oh, I know the perfect place," Alexis said excitedly.

Kate and Lanie looked at each other and then at the young girl. They could see that she was extremely confident that she knew just the place to buy a dress. It surprised them. But then, thinking about who Alexis's mother and grand mother were, the events that they would have been to, and the dresses they would have worn, Kate realised it was quite possible that Alexis knew exactly where to go.

It wasn't long before the women had all arrived at the stores.

"Hey Alexis," Lanie said. "Have you eaten tonight?"

"Not yet," she said. "But I am starting to feel a little hungry."

"Well, what do you say, we go find some hot dogs before we go shopping?"

"Hot dogs?" Kate asked. "Not exactly the healthiest dinner choice."

"C'mon Kate," Lanie said. "We can be healthy another time. What do you think Alexis?"

"I haven't had a hot dog in months. I think it sounds great!"

Kate gave in and joined them as they walked over to the hot dog stand. She watched as Alexis and Lanie laughed with each other and was surprised at how comfortable they were considering they had only met once before. But then she thought back to the first time she met Alexis and she realised, she was just an easy person to be around. It really wasn't hard to love the young girl.

Once they'd finished their hot dogs they first went into one of the stores Lanie had suggested.

"So, exactly what are we looking for?" Lanie asked.

"Nothing too extravagant. I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard."

"But you want it to be se…"

"Lanie!" Kate exclaimed before her friend finished speaking. She knew what she was going to say and would prefer less obvious words be used around Alexis. "Yes, I want it to be a little _alluring_ I guess," she corrected.

Lanie nodded, and mouthed her apology.

Alexis hadn't really been listening to their conversation. She was too busy looking around the store. Not closely looking at anything just from a distance skimmed the room.

"I don't think we'll find what you want in here," Alexis said.

"But we haven't even looked," Lanie said confused.

"Trust me," Alexis said. "I've been into enough stores with grams and mom to know when a store is going to have what you need. And this store," she said shaking her head, "doesn't have what we want."

Kate shrugged at Lanie and then turned to Alexis. "Shouldn't we look properly though."

"If you want to, but I think you'll be wasting your time," she said.

Lanie looked almost offended, after all, she had bought many dresses from the store before.

Kate chuckled a little. "Give me five minutes," she said. "If nothing catches my eye, then we'll move on."

Kate knew Alexis was probably right, the store didn't quite seem to be her style, but she didn't want to upset Lanie so spending at least a few minutes in there without being in there too long surely would make them both happy.

"Okay," both Alexis and Lanie said with smiles, and Kate was glad they both were happy with her decision.

The three wandered the store but as Alexis had expected, there was nothing suitable and five minutes later they were wandering out of the store towards a store that Kate wanted to try.

"Alexis? What are your thoughts on this store?" Kate asked.

"Well, it's not bad. I'm still not sure we'll find what you want, but I think we should give it a go."

Lanie looked at Kate with raised eyebrows having absolutely no idea what to think of Alexis's judgement of the stores.

"Let's go looking then."

This store was bigger than the first so Lanie went off separately while Alexis stayed with Kate. When somebody found something they liked or thought could work they called the others over.

"What about this?" asked Lanie.

"Hmmm…" Kate hummed looking at the dress. "I actually quite like that one, but I'm not sure it's what I want for this event. It might show a little too much leg. I want to look good, but I don't want people to be staring at me."

"Kate, you're going to this thing with Richard Castle. People are going to be staring at you."

Kate felt a smaller hand grasp hers as Lanie spoke and it squeezed her hand. She didn't even have to look beside her to know it was Alexis trying to reassure her that it would be okay.

"Don't worry Kate. You'll be fine. Everyone is going to love you, and I'm sure dad will take care of you and will make sure nobody stares. He's pretty good like that. I've gone to a few things with him, and he always knows what to say to camera men to keep them away. He won't tell me what he says, but they don't come near me. Sometimes journalists will come up to me and ask me about him, but when they do he just politely asks them not to bother me with silly questions, and they always listen and do what he asks. I know you're expecting a couple of photos and there's bound to be a couple of people asking questions, but I can guarantee you that dad will have everything pre organised so that you can be comfortable."

Kate just stared down at Alexis standing next to her. Once again, she was amazed by the maturity of the ten year old. She knew exactly what was going on, and exactly what Kate was worrying about. The young girl definitely had her father's intuition.

"Thanks Alexis."

"So, about this dress?" Lanie asked. "Definitely a no?"

"Alexis?" Kate asked.

"It's definitely too short, but I think you should try it on," Alexis said with a smile. "I bet you'll look gorgeous in it, and maybe you can wear it to dinner tomorrow."

"Your dad told you about our dinner plans?"

"Of course he did," Alexis laughed. "He said it would just be me and grams tomorrow night because you are making him a special dinner. I think a special dinner deserves a special dress right?"

Kate laughed. "I guess you're right. Let's go try this one on then."

The three made their way to the dressing room and Lanie and Alexis waited while Kate tried the dress on.

"How does it look?" Lanie called out.

"Hang on, I'm coming out."

A few seconds later, Kate appeared out of the stall.

"Wow!" Alexis said.

"Girl! You look hot," Lanie said.

The dress was definitely too short to be worn to the fundraiser, but it did look good and fitted her perfectly. It was an off the shoulder style dress but also had a thin halter neck strap. It fit snuggly showing off Kate's hips and waistline. Kate knew it would look great with her black pumps.

"I love it. You're legs look like they go on forever," Alexis said. "I can tell you now, dad would love it," she added with rolling eyes.

Lanie and Kate both laughed at Alexis's comment. She knew her father so well.

"What do you think Kate?" Lanie asked.

"I love it, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to afford 2 dresses tonight, and I really need to find one for Saturday. Maybe I can come back and find this again later and buy it for another occasion."

"Okay, but we're coming back for this if your other dress doesn't blow the budget."

"Fine," Kate said, but she knew it was highly unlikely she would be back for the dress any time soon.

"Well should we keep looking in here?" Lanie asked.

"I think we covered the entire store, there wasn't anything else that really captured my attention," Kate said. "Alexis? Want to try one of the stores you mentioned?"

"Sure, I know the perfect one. Follow me."

Kate and Lanie did as they were told, and followed Alexis out of the store. A few minutes later they entered a store that neither had ever stepped into before.

"Alexis, I don't think I can afford this place," Kate said nervously.

"You'll be surprised at what you can find here, Kate. Yeah, some of it is crazy expensive, but if you know where to look then it's not so bad."

"And let me guess," Lanie said. "You know where to look?"

Alexis nodded. "C'mon then."

Again, the two adults followed the young girl as she walked through the store towards the back and they found a wall full of long black dresses of all different styles.

"I'm sure there's gotta be something in here," Alexis said. "I guessed you'd be looking for a long black dress since it's a black tie event."

Kate nodded. She really didn't know what to say. It was such a strange situation she found herself in. Shopping with a ten year old who seemed to really know her way around the store.

"So, I was thinking," Alexis continued, as she began quickly going through the dresses in front of her. "Long black dress, sleeveless, sweetheart neckline, fish tail train and criss cross back ties."

"Uh… sounds good," Kate responded simply watching the young girl look through the dresses.

Lanie stood there with her mouth open stunned at what was going on. It wasn't normal for a ten year old to know about evening dresses, was it?

"Perfect!" Alexis shouted pulling a dress from the wall. "Go try it on," she said handing it to Kate.

Kate immediately noticed that she had been given the exact right size which once again astounded her. She also realised there was no price on the dress. "Alexis, there's no price tag," Kate said searching the dress to find out how expensive it was. Alexis was right, the dress did look perfect, but she wasn't going to try it on only to be disappointed when she couldn't afford it.

Alexis glared at Kate. "Just trust me. Try it on."

Lanie could see a stubbornness starting to show on Alexis' face, "I don't think she's going to give up til you try it on. You should just do it. It really does look perfect. I'd love to see how it looks on."

Kate looked from Lanie to Alexis and then at the dress. She knew before she even tried it on that it was exactly what she wanted, but without knowing if she had the funds for it, she was a little worried about trying it on. When she looked back at Lanie and Alexis, they were both looking at her with hope in their eyes. Alexis may have been stubborn, but there was still a sweetness about her that Kate couldn't say no to. Sighing she eventually agreed to try on the dress.

"Yes!" Alexis said with a fist pump, and then high fived Lanie.

"And now she's a ten year old again," Lanie said to Kate as she passed her, making them both laugh.

What neither of the adults had realised was that Alexis had taken the price tag and hidden it in her back pocket before handing the dress to Kate. She knew the price would stop Kate from buying it, but she didn't want price to get in the way.

When Kate appeared out of the change room with the dress on, Lanie nearly fell backwards off the stool she had perched herself on. Kate looked absolutely stunning.

"Told you it would be perfect," Alexis said smiling.

"Wow Alexis," Kate said looking at herself in the mirror. "It really is. I just, I don't know, I'll have to ask for a price first."

"Kate, honey," Lanie said. "I'll help you pay for it. You have to get that dress."

"I can't let you do that Lanie. We don't know how much it is, what if it's still too much for the both of us."

Kate and Lanie then got into a conversation about money and how much would be too much, and then began discussing shoes and bags to match. While they did they didn't notice Alexis slip out of the dressing room area.

Alexis made her way over to Fiona, the store owner, who she had met a few times before.

"Hey Alexis," Fiona said. "Is your father here?"

"No, I'm here with his girlfriend, Kate. I need to pay for the dress she's trying on."

She pulled out the tag from the dress and from another pocket she took out her fathers card.

Fiona gave the young girl a smile and nodded. "I think I can help you with that."

A few moments later, Alexis returned to the change room where Lanie and Kate were finishing their conversation.

"I guess, I should take this off," Kate said.

"Are you going to buy it?" Lanie asked.

"I don't know."

Alexis continued to act like she had been there the whole time, keeping a straight face and not saying a word. They hadn't seemed to notice that she had gone and come back during their short conversation.

When Kate came out of the dressing room with the dress in hand, Fiona had come back with a dress bag. "I'll just bag that up for you then, and it's all yours," she said with a wink in Alexis's direction.

"But, I don't know how much it is? I don't know if I can afford it?" Kate said.

"It's all been taken care of," Fiona said taking the dress from Kate.

"What? How?"

Alexis giggled now, unable to contain it anymore.

"Alexis?" Kate said. "What did you do?"

"Dad gave me his card. He told me to make sure you got the most perfect dress. He said not to worry about the cost, but I had to pay secretly or he knew you wouldn't let me do it."

"Alexis? I can't believe you did that?"

The young girls face dropped. "I'm sorry. I just wanted you both to be happy."

"I am happy," Kate said pulling the girl in for a hug, "I just can't believe you did that, and we didn't even notice. How did you…?"

"You and Lanie were talking, I snuck out," Alexis interrupted, pulling out of the hug.

"I see. But, I'm pretty sure I did tell your father that I wanted to get this dress because I wanted to surprise him. I have to pay him back."

"He said you'd say that. So he told me to tell you that it will still be a surprise because he hasn't seen the dress, even if he paid for it, he won't know what it looks like."

"It sounds like he thought of everything," Lanie said. "You're a lucky woman Kate."

"Yeah, I really am. Thank you Alexis."

Fiona handed the bag back to Kate and after the three thanked her, they were heading out the door again.

"Well, does this mean we can go back and get the other dress now?" Lanie said.

"I guess we can," Kate shrugged.

"Two surprise dresses. Dad is going to love it!" Alexis almost shouted.

After going back to the store to pick up the second dress they were just about done for the evening.

"How about we go get some ice cream before we head home?" Kate said.

"We could get the ice cream and take it home to dad and eat it with him. You know he'll be upset to think that we ate some without him."

Lanie laughed. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. He loves ice cream," both Kate and Alexis responded at the same time.

"Let's do that then," Lanie said. "He wont mind if I join you will he?"

"Of course not," Alexis said. "He'll love it. Just be careful he doesn't try and put weird toppings on your ice cream."

Kate and Lanie both looked at her with confused expressions wanting to know more.

"He once tried putting anchovies and tomato sauce on ice cream. It was disgusting."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Lanie said, screwing up her nose.

* * *

Rick was just settling down to watch the 7:30pm news when he heard the door opening behind him.

"Wow," he said, turning to see Kate, Lanie and Alexis enter the loft. "You're back already?" He couldn't help but notice the lack of dress bags they were holding. All they had was one paper bag, and he knew that wasn't the type of bag a dress would come in. "You didn't find a dress?" he asked, feeling a little disappointed.

"Oh, I found a dress," Kate said.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"It's in the car."

"Can I see it?" he said making his way over to her.

"Not until Saturday. I'm taking it back to my place or I know you'll have a peek before then."

Rick leaned in to kiss her cheek. "You know me too well," he said. "So what do we have in the paper bag?"

"Ice cream!" Alexis said. "We thought we'd bring some home and eat together."

"Sounds great. I'll get the bowls and spoons."

"Lanie and I will go take the ice cream over there," Alexis said pointing towards the area her father had been sitting in, giving him and Kate a moment of time alone.

Once Lanie and Alexis left the kitchen, Kate wrapped her arms around Rick and pulled him close. "Thank you Rick," she said. "That was sneaky, but I really appreciate it."

"So Alexis pulled off Operation S.B.D.F.K"

"What?" Kate said with a laugh.

"Operation secretly buy dress for Kate"

"Yeah," Kate said rolling her eyes. "She pulled it off."

"Good. I can't wait to see this dress," he said before joining their lips together again. They remained there enjoying the feel of one another tongues and lips on their own until they were interrupted by Lanie clearing her throat beside them.

"Sorry guys," she said. "I hate to interrupt, but Alexis and I were kind of waiting for the bowls and spoons, and you two were taking too long."

Kate blushed and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Sorry Lanie," Rick said, and he let go of Kate's waist and took out the bowls while Kate went to get spoons.

A few minutes later, they were all enjoying their ice cream together, laughing and enjoying each other's company until it was time for Lanie to go home.

They said their goodnights and then Alexis took herself up to bed.

"So, are you staying?" Rick asked. He knew she had been there for the last few nights, and she might have wanted to go home.

"Well, I do have to take the dress home, but I guess that can wait until tomorrow."

"Are you sure you don't want to bring it up then?"

"You just want to see it," Kate said. "No, I think it's pretty secure in your parking garage."

"You've got a spot in the parking garage?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I've had it all week actually. Tony organised it for me. He's a good guy."

Rick smiled. "Yeah, he is. I'll have to thank him," he said unable to hide the smirk growing on his face.

"Rick, you did it didn't you? You had him organise me a parking spot."

"Maybe."

"Rick!" Kate said glaring.

"Okay, I did. But it's a good thing right. You've been here a lot, and I just wanted you to know everything is safe when you're here."

Kate smiled. "You just can't help yourself can you?"

Rick shrugged.

"Thank you again," she said, placing a kiss to his cheek and lingering there a little longer than usual.

"Now, it's been a long day, and I think I am in need of a shower," she said making her way to Rick's bedroom door. By the time she reached his door she had removed her top and quickly turned to see him still standing back at the front door where they'd said goodnight to Lanie. "You coming?" she said with a smirk.

* * *

_**Well, that shopping trip was nothing like I had really expected but I hope you enjoyed it :) **_

_**So, I just ate an entire box of chocolate coated tiny teddies... whoever invented those things is a genius! THEY ARE AWESOME! Sadly, I ran out too soon, and now I want more. Maybe I shall buy some tomorrow, along with some sort of muscle soak. My arm muscles are REALLY sore! I was flipping more than usual on Monday and I'm still paying for it. **_

_**Oh... and something exciting to share. My mum is bringing my 2 year old nephew to come and visit me next weekend. YAY! **_


	60. Chapter 60

**_The Real Richard Castle Makes Himself Known_**

**_For the past few months many had thought Richard Castle was hiding away from us. And then last week, we saw him out and about with his publisher, immediately labelling him and making assumptions about what he has been up to. In a surprise move that, one which we really were not expecting, Mr Castle himself has reached out to us and has given us some insight into what has really been going on in his life over the past few months. To say we were surprised about what he has revealed about his life, past, present and the future, would be an understatement. Want to know the real Richard Castle? Find out more inside. _**

Kate was sitting up in bed, leaning back on the headboard reading the paper that Rick had just bought in for her. He'd managed to pick up the newspaper from outside the front door and made breakfast before she had even woken up. It wasn't until he entered the room with her breakfast that the scent of coffee even had her stirring awake.

"Have you read all of it?" she asked, putting the paper down briefly and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Not yet, I thought we could read it together," Rick said climbing back onto the bed beside her. "So, want to read the article or eat breakfast first?"

"You know I really want to read the article, but I don't want breakfast to go cold. Especially when you've put this much effort into it. This looks amazing."

Sitting on the tray in front of them was a plate full of French toast, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomato.

"Kate," Rick said softly.

"Hmmm?" she said lifting her face towards him. He was closer than she had expected, his face merely inches from her own, she leaned forward until their lips were almost touching, expecting him to close the gap.

"You should really try the french toast," he said sitting back and picking up a piece of toast, holding it between them in front of her lips.

Kate shook her head at him but opened her mouth slightly and allowed Rick to feed her a bit of the toast before he took a few bites himself.

"Mmmm," this is really good, she said. "What have you put on it?"

"A little bit of Richard Castle love."

Kate smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well, Richard Castle love is pretty amazing. I wouldn't mind some more of that."

"Right now?" he asked, picking up the tray. "I'm happy to give you all the love you want."

Kate laughed, and took the tray back from his hands. "You set me up for that."

Rick shrugged. "I meant it though, if you want Richard Castle love, I've got plenty of that for you."

"Let's just eat breakfast first. Like I said, I don't want it to go cold."

Once they'd both eaten enough Rick took the tray away from them and then moved in close to Kate wrapping his arm behind her back and he picked up the paper with his other hand and placed it between them.

"So, are you ready to read this?"

Kate looked at him, "Are you?"

"You bet I am."

They opened the newspaper and started reading silently.

**_If you're anything like us, you've probably been wandering what mystery novelist Richard Castle has been up to lately. Not long after his last book was published more than a year ago, it was like he disappeared and had not been seen since then until just last week. It seems however, Mr Castle, was not completely satisfied with how we, and other media, have portrayed him in the past and he has now opened up to tell us the truth about his past, his present and even more exciting, his future. _**

**_So, Mr Castle, tell us, where have you been for the past year? _**

_After the last book was released you could say I fell into a bit of a downward spiral. For a few months, I simply shut myself away in my home. I had a bad case of writers block, which somehow led to me being unable to sleep. And I guess to cut a long story short I got addicted to sleeping pills and so for a few months, I admitted myself into a rehabilitation centre. _

**_Something must have made you realise you had a problem? What was that?_**

_My daughter. I realised I wasn't there for her, and well, her mother isn't around a lot so she needs me. And she didn't have me, I knew I had to do something to fix it. _

**_So, you went to rehab?_**

_Yes_

**_And how long have you been out? _**

_You know I've been having such a great time since I got out that I can't be sure. But I think it must be about 2 months now that I've been out. I've just been having a lot of fun and have been too happy to even think about time. _

**_If you've been having fun, I guess that has had a lot to do with your daughter?_**

_Yes, she has had a lot to do with it. We spent a couple of weeks in our beach house with another family and we had a great time. _

**_And we hear there is a new woman in your life? Is this true? Does she have something to do with this new found happiness? _**

_She has everything to do with this new found happiness. _

**_You should have seen the smile he had on his face right at this moment. There was definitely something special about this woman and we were desperate to find out more. However, he was very careful with how much information was divulged about her, not even giving us a full name. _**

**_So, this new woman? Can you tell us a little bit about her?_**

_She's amazing. She's perfect. She is exactly what I need in my life. She brings me hope, she fills me with courage and she loves me more than I deserve to be loved. I've done some terrible things, but she only sees the good. She makes me see the good in me. She makes me a better man and every day I want to try harder for her. To be a better man for her, and for my daughter. For the future family that I hope to have one day. _

**_It really does sound like she has been the cause of a lot of change in you. How does she feel about your past? _**

_The past? You mean, the way I've been portrayed in the papers? Oh, this is what I was waiting for! You see, the truth is. The Richard Castle that has been seen in the papers over the past several years, isn't really me. It's a man I was told to be. A man that others thought would be better for me, and sure it has worked out quite well. I've sold a large number of books and have a great bunch of fans, but you know what I realised. Nobody knows the real Richard Castle, that's the reason I had asked for this interview. I wanted people to know the real me. _

**_So, who is the real Richard Castle? _**

_I'm not going to lie. The Richard Castle you have seen isn't a complete lie. I've had some fun, but behind that has been a man searching for something real. The real Richard Castle believes in long time love, marriage and family. He believes that there's more to life than making money and being famous. He's a gentleman, but also a child. He knows how to have fun, and how to be serious. He's a loving father, and a caring boyfriend. Well, that's what I would hope people would say about me. _

**_You've mentioned your daughter, and we know you have been raising her on your own. Where is her mother? How does she feel about the new woman in your life?_**

_Now, there's an interesting question. They met a few weeks back and honestly, it didn't go so well in the beginning but I'm pretty sure they came to an understanding. I'm sure next time they see each other things are going to be better. Meredith, my ex-wife, I'm sure she does her best to be there for her daughter. It's difficult for her, but she tries. _

**_So, why did it end between the two of you. You say the real Richard Castle believes in marriage and love, so why didn't the first one work out? _**

_I wont go into the extremely personal details, because Meredith didn't sign up for this interview, I did. But I think for a marriage to really work, both parties need to believe in the same thing, and after a while I realised we didn't. What I wanted was completely different to what she wanted and no matter what I did, it wasn't going to change anything, so we knew we had to split. I wasn't the man she needed in her life. _

**_And the new woman is okay that you have been divorced before?_**

_We've spoken about it. She knows what happened, and there is no doubt in our minds that the love we share is different from the love I had with Meredith. _

**_It's definitely real love then?_**

_Yes, it is. _

**_So, when will we get to meet this lovely lady? _**

_I'm going to a fundraiser this weekend. If you're lucky, maybe you'll see her there. If not, well you'll just have to wait until she's ready to be seen. _

**_You've been quite successful at keeping her hidden away?_**

_I've been protecting her. I didn't want people to think she is just another one of those girls that I've been seen with before. I know the stories that have been printed, I've read them all, and I know that people believe these things. I wanted to be sure that when she was seen with me, that people knew it was more, it's more than just a fling. I didn't want them to see her as anything less than what she is. _

**_You're a good man, Mr Castle. _**

_I try to be._

**_So, what can we expect to see in the near future? Are you writing again? _**

_Yes, actually, I'm writing a new book. Unfortunately, I can't say much about it because we are still in negotiations and working out a few things, however, I can say that I think it is my best work yet. _

_**And there you have it. We spent quite some time together discussing a large number of things, but unfortunately we were unable to print it all. So, it seems that Richard Castle is not so much the man we came to know as a lady's man, but is a man who loves his family, and this mystery new woman. Richard, we can't wait to meet her!**_

"Interesting read," Kate said. "It was nice what you did for Meredith, you know you really could have said some terrible things."

"I could have, but it wouldn't have been the right thing to do. I had to think of how this would affect others, not just me. I had to think of Alexis."

Kate reached out and took Ricks hand in hers, twining her fingers between his, simply smiling at the connection between them.

"You know, I'm actually surprised at how much they put in about you though. Seriously, we must have spoken about so much more. Are you okay with this?"

"Rick, it's fine. They don't even know my name. You did good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Kate said smiling as she took away the newspaper. "I guess they're going to want my name tomorrow night though, and if we don't tell them, they'll go looking."

"Probably. But if you want, we'll give you a fake name. We'll call you Nikki Heat."

"Nikki Heat?"

"Yeah, I think it's a great name."

"I think it makes me sound like a stripper."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes it does!" Kate argued.

"Well, I guess now is a bad time to tell you that's the name of the character in my new book."

"The character that I have inspired?"

Rick nodded.

"You have to change the name," Kate said wide eyed.

"Oh no, I can't do that. Just think of all the fun book titles I can come up with. Summer Heat, Heat Wave, In Heat. Its gonna be great!" he said excitedly.

"Rick, change it."

"Too late. The publishers have already said they love it."

"What are people going to think of me when these books come out?" Kate said, letting Rick know what she was really worried about.

"Kate, Nikki isn't you, you aren't Nikki. I will make sure people are very aware of that. I'm not going to let people think you are anything other than amazing."

Kate squinted her eyes at Rick trying to read his expression and she could see that he meant what he was saying. He would do what he could to protect her, she believed that.

"Hmmm… okay. I guess you can keep Nikki Heat, but tomorrow we'll tell them I'm Kate. Just Kate."

"We can do that," Rick smiled.

Kate lifted one leg over Rick's lap so she was straddling him, and then starting sliding the both of them back down into the bed. "Now how about you share some of that love you were talking about before."

* * *

Kate was ready to leave just after lunch as she needed to organise dinner for the evening. Rick tried to convince her to stay longer saying they could cook dinner together, but Kate was adamant, and she left on her own as she had planned.

After stopping at the supermarket to purchase groceries she went back to her own apartment. Walking inside felt strange, it had been almost a week since she'd last been there. If she was honest with herself, she knew she probably wasn't going to see much more of the apartment. She still hadn't given Rick an answer to his question about her moving in. She was surprised that he hadn't actually brought it up again. He had been doing little things to try and make a move seem like a natural move, like getting her a parking space, but he hadn't actually asked again. She appreciated it. He was giving her time to think and make a decision, and she was pretty sure she was almost ready to answer.

After putting the groceries in the kitchen and going back to the car to get her dresses she wanted to get started on dinner. She had decided to make lamb shanks on couscous with a side of salad. She had an old recipe of her mothers that she knew her dad loved and had a feeling Rick would love it to. She also knew that making them gave her plenty of time to get ready while they were cooking.

A few hours later almost everything was ready. Kate had showered, put her make up on and fixed her hair. The only thing left to do was to put on the dress, set the table and wait for Rick to arrive while the dinner finished cooking.

Kate started setting the table dressed just in her robe as she didn't want to do anything to ruin the dress before Rick arrived.

It was 6:30 when she heard the knock at the door. She looked down at herself dressed in her robe and wasn't sure whether she should answer it. She hadn't been expecting Rick for another half an hour, so she thought if she was quiet, whoever it was would just go away, but a few seconds later there was another knock followed by a voice.

"Kate? Is everything okay in there?"

It was Rick.

"Uh, wont be a minute," Kate called out making her way to the door.

When she opened it she was met with a very well dressed and smiling Richard Castle holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other.

"You're early," Kate said.

"I was getting bored at home. I thought I could come help you finish dinner. You can't get mad, I bought wine and flowers," he said innocently.

Kate laughed. "I wouldn't be mad, but I'm not ready. I'm wearing a robe," she said waving her arms down her sides.

"Oh, you know that's totally fine with me," Rick said waggling his eyebrows.

"I'm not eating dinner in a robe when you're dressed up so nicely Rick."

"But I like the robe."

"Trust me, you'll like my outfit even more," she said with a wink.

"Really? Well then, I can't wait." After a moment of silence, he finally asked, "so, uh, can I come in?"

Kate hadn't even realised they were still standing in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Come in. And thank you for the flowers."

"How about you go get dressed and I'll put these flowers in water and pour us some drinks?"

"Sounds great. I wont be too long. Wine glasses are in the top right cupboard."

Kate went to turn away to go back to her bedroom to change when Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his chest.

"Not so fast. I haven't seen you all afternoon. I need to say hello properly."

Kate rolled here eyes but reached up on her toes to join her lips with Ricks. Their lips and tongues danced playfully together until they pulled away breathless.

"Hi," Kate said as she pulled away biting her bottom lip.

"Hi," Rick responded before turning Kate to face away from him and pushing her towards her bedroom. "Now you can finish getting ready."

* * *

**I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with this, but I'm getting sleepy so I'm just posting whatever I ended up with here :) **

**So... the latest news in my life...**

It looks like I have to pack up and move again. This will be the 8th move in about 6 years. I'm SO OVER MOVING! Anyways, I seem to just want to cry whenever I get home now. It seems like when everything was going really well for me, I had my finances sorted out, I had a living situation I was happy with, and just everything was good, and then a spanner is thrown into the works. I now have to find money for a bond, removalists etc. Oh, and I have to find a new place to live. I could be homeless in a few weeks :( Actually, I don't think that would happen, I have people that would be able to give me somewhere to stay temporarily.

**That amongst everything else I'm trying to deal with at the moment, is just stressing me out and honestly, the tiniest little thing will set me off and I think I'd be crying for hours... it's not good. I'm such a girl! haha... I did have a good afternoon yesterday though... before finding out I am going to have to move. **


	61. Chapter 61

As Kate was in her room getting changed, Rick tried to keep himself occupied in the kitchen. He found a vase for the flowers, filled two wine glasses and then lit the candles Kate had placed on the table. Finding her ipod next to the stereo, he went through the music and found a playlist that was called 'Rick' so he turned it on and smiled when 'My Endless Love' was the first song to start playing. It seemed that it had become their song.

He went back to the kitchen and took a peek in the oven. The smell that had filled the apartment was making him salivate and he had to know what it was. What he saw in the oven looked great, and it made his stomach grumble. He was getting hungry and was starting to feel a little impatient. Kate had been in her room for a few minutes, surely that was long enough to get dressed.

Walking towards her bedroom door, he heard her yelp.

"Kate, are you okay?" he said bursting in her room.

Kate was hopping up and down on one food holding her opposite foot her hand.

"Kate?" Rick said again.

"I stubbed my toe," she said screwing up her nose.

"I didn't know you could yelp like a little girl. I thought you were the ever strong Detective Beckett," he said walking over to her.

Kate finally let go of her foot and slapped Rick's chest playfully.

Rick stumbled back and finally got to see the dress Kate was wearing. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "That dress… you…. uh… you look amazing."

Kate grinned. "You like it?"

"Like it, I love it."

Kate felt herself blush and bit into her bottom lip while looking down at her feet trying to hide the redness of her cheeks from the man standing in front of her.

"I'm glad you like it. I bought it for you," she said taking a step closer so she was standing within reaching distance.

Rich reached out and placed his hands on Kate's hips pulling her into him, and she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I think you would look gorgeous in anything, but just… wow."

"For a writer, you really are struggling with your words a bit aren't you?"

"I just… I never… You are… Man, I really am struggling aren't I?" he stuttered, making Kate laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So, you remember the other day I proved you weren't in control all the time?" she said with her lips merely millimetres from Rick's.

Rick could feel his heart jumping in his chest, not to mention other parts of him, which were beginning to show signs of just how aroused he was with Kate in that dress and standing so close. He nodded gently, unsure he'd be able to get any words out if he tried.

Kate brushed her lips ever so lightly against his, as she moved her head to whisper into his ear. "It looks like I just proved it again. And this time, I didn't even need cuffs."

She slowly began to draw away from him allowing her hands to trail down the front of his shirt before stepping away and turning to go back out of her room and towards the kitchen. As she walked, she made sure to swing her hips a little more than usual and didn't even look back over her shoulder. She didn't need to. She knew exactly what she was doing to Rick.

Kate had barely made it out of the room before she felt Rick grab her hand and push her up against the wall next to her bedroom door. His lips were on hers within seconds and his hands began running down her sides.

"You didn't think I'd let you get away that easily, did you?" Rick growled in her ear, and then before she could respond he had his lips on hers and then began moving them down her jaw to her neck, working them in a way that he knew would render her speechless.

Kate gasped as she felt Rick gently bite her neck before soothing the spot with his tongue. Her arms reached behind his back grasping at any material of his shirt she could get her hands on while letting her head fall back against the wall behind her. It was almost unbelievable how quickly she had let herself lose control.

Rick's began moving his lips down towards her collar bone while Kate unconsciously stepped her feet apart allowing Rick to step in and push his hips in closer. Kate could feel his excitement growing as he ground his hips into hers causing them both to moan. Whatever thoughts she had about dinner disappeared from her mind. Now there was a different hunger that needed to be fed.

It wasn't long before Kate's dress was pushed up around her waist and Kate was extremely close to begging for Rick to take her to bed.

"Rick," she breathed out softly. "Please…"

Before she managed to get another word out, they were interrupted by an alarm which startled Rick and caused him to jump back a little, and Kate almost came toppling over on top of him, but managed to catch herself and Rick before they fell.

"Sorry," she said softly. "Oven. I probably should turn that off."

Rick took a couple of steps back to give Kate room to get past him and to the kitchen. "I guess we should eat dinner. I don't want all that hard work you put in to be wasted," he said a little breathless.

"I dunno. We could start with dessert," Kate said in a sultry voice. She hadn't even realised her dress was still up around her waist, until Rick reached out to it.

"Oh, trust me, I plan on making dessert last all night so, we should eat dinner, we might need the energy," Rick said with a wink as he pulled Kate's dress back down again.

Kate was a little annoyed. She had been so close to release and now he was making her wait. It wouldn't matter how good dinner was, she knew this was bound to be the longest dinner of her life. She let her mind drift off and began thinking about all the different things they could do while they were alone in her apartment and she hadn't even realised Rick had turned and started walking towards the kitchen again until he called out to her.

"Kate? You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry," she said. "I'm coming."

Rick chuckled. "Really? Right now? Hopefully next time I'll be right there with you," he said turning back to her with raised eyebrows.

Kate rolled her eyes and made her way over to him. "C'mon, let's get dinner."

Throughout dinner Kate would occasionally tuck her toes under the cuff of Rick's pants and run them up his leg causing him to shiver. Of course, she would then act like she hadn't done a thing when he looked over at her. She was enjoying herself, and she was sure Rick didn't mind. When she'd eaten enough and she thought Rick had just about finished, she allowed her foot to go higher and reached in between his legs, causing him to jump up a little.

"Kate!"

"Time for dessert?" she said as she got up and walked around to his side of the table. She dragged her fingers over his shoulders suggestively as she walked behind him, coaxing him to follow her.

"You don't want to clean up first?"

Kate was shocked. She didn't know how he could possibly have that much self control.

"Seriously? You would rather clean right now?"

Rick didn't even have to think about it. "Definitely not." He grinned cheekily at her, and within seconds was chasing her down the hall to the bedroom. It seemed he wasn't as controlled as she thought.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning Kate was woken up when she felt the bed dipping beside her.

"Rick?" she said softly, prying her eyes open.

"Shhh…" he said, before placing a kiss to her check and running his hand down her arm. "Go back to sleep."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"No where. I'm just coming back."

Kate was slowly waking up from her sleepy state and she rolled over to face Rick who was settling himself back in the bed.

"Where you been?" Kate asked.

"Bathroom."

Kate hummed as she rolled further into his chest and placed one leg over his. Suddenly, feeling the heat coming from his body and feeling his skin underneath her she wasn't feel so tired anymore. She ran her hand first over his chest and then made her way down to his navel circling it gently with her nails then moved lower, only to be stopped by a pair of boxers covering his lower half.

"What's this?" she asked.

"That's what I call underwear," Rick joked. "I know it's no where near as revealing or sexy as yours but…"

"No, I mean… what is it doing on? Last time I checked I'm pretty sure it was lost somewhere on the floor with mine."

"I went to the bathroom."

"So?"

"You want me to walk around naked?"

"Well, we're here alone. No child to scare, so why not?" Kate said as she reached inside his boxers and stroked his length.

Rick was so used to being in his own place that he always put at least boxers on when he got out of bed, just in case Alexis walked in. All thoughts of Alexis quickly vanished once again as soon as he felt Kates hand wrap around him. From then it didn't take long for Rick to once again lose his underwear and he found himself hovering above Kate on the mattress.

"Ready for round four?"

"You bet I am," Kate said wrapping her legs around him and pulling him down on top of her.

* * *

The next time they woke it was due to Rick's phone ringing next to them.

"Yeah?" Rick answered half asleep.

Kate rolled into him and nestled her head under his chin as he spoke.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that should be fine," he said.

Kate couldn't hear what was being said on the other side of the phone.

"6pm, got it."

There was another moment of silence before he spoke again.

"No, no, definitely not. I said no cameras inside and I was serious."

Whoever was on the other end must have been trying to argue a case, but Kate knew by the tone of his voice that Rick wasn't backing down.

"If I see one, I will have them removed."

Putting all the pieces together, it was obvious Rick was confirming the details for the evening.

"Thank you," he finished. "I will see you there."

He hung up and placed the phone back on the bedside table.

"Sorry if that woke you. I forgot Paula likes to call early in the morning when there's an event."

"It's okay," she mumbled. "All organised?"

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about a thing."

"Good," she said kissing his chest and his stomach grumbled back making them both laugh. "Someone's hungry," Kate said rolling back again. "Breakfast?"

Before Rick was able to respond his phone began to ring again.

"What is it this time Paula? I told you, no cameras inside," he said without looking to see who it was.

Kate decided she didn't want to be around if Rick was going to get into an argument with his agent and she was beginning to feel a little hungry herself, so she decided she would start breakfast while Rick dealt with his publisher. Before she even managed to roll over to the edge of the bed Rick stopped her.

"Sorry Alexis. I didn't check. Is everything okay?" Rick said into his phone, as he pulled Kate back to his side.

Kate shook her head at the man, it was like he couldn't do a thing without her, not even talk to his daughter on the phone.

"Kate's here. Can I put you on speaker?" he said.

"Hey Alexis," Kate said.

"Hi Kate," came the young girl's cheery response.

"So, what's up pumpkin?" Rick asked.

"I was wondering if you were coming home for lunch? I was just about to start making some pizzas."

"It doesn't take that long to make pizza's Alexis."

"I know but it's 11:30 now, so by the time I've…"

"What?" Rick said. "It can't be 11:30. We've only just woken up, and Paula just called."

"Oh, yes, she called here early this morning looking for you," came Martha's voice. "I told her where you were and maybe she decided not to call so early, just in case you, well, I'm sure you can figure that out."

"You're on speaker too dad."

"I figured as much. Good morning mother."

"Good morning Richard, Kate," she responded.

"So it's really 11:30?" he asked.

Kate picked up her phone and sure enough, it was 11:30. After click a few buttons on his own phone, Richard realised his said the same.

"Yep," Alexis said. "So will you both be here for lunch?"

Rick looked towards Kate as if to ask her.

"I'll send your father home. Give him an hour, we've got to sort a few things out for tonight. But I'll be home here all day. I need to get myself ready for the big reveal."

Rick laughed.

"The big reveal?" Alexis questioned.

"Yeah, you know," Kate said. "The revealing of the mystery woman your father has been dating."

"Oh," Alexis giggled. "Well, how about you come have lunch, and then I'll help you get ready. Another girls afternoon."

"But Alexis," Rick said pouting. "You always help me get ready. You know I can never make my tie look as good as you can."

Kate's jaw dropped in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"What, I think it's her little fingers. Mine just get in the way," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It's true," Alexis said. "Okay dad, what if I help Kate get ready and then you come pick her up and I can help you with your tie when you get here."

"And how are you going to get home?" Rick asked.

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

"Don't worry Richard. I'll come with you and I'll bring Alexis home. This way I'll get to see this gorgeous dress Alexis has been telling me about." Martha said.

"What? Alexis talked to you about the dress," Richard said. "Why wont anyone tell me about the dress."

"You have to wait, Rick, only a few more hours."

"Yeah dad!"

"Fine, so we'll come home for lunch, then you and Kate can come back here and get Kate ready, then grams will come get you when I pick Kate up. Does that sound right?"

"Uh huh."

"I'll see you soon then pumpkin."

They all said bye and then hung up.

"I hope you don't mind Alexis coming back here with you," Rick said not long after hanging up, realising Kate hadn't actually agreed to it.

"It's fine. It'll be fun."

"I love that you two get along so well. You really are amazing," he said giving her a brief kiss. "Speaking of amazing, I hear this dress is…"

"No! You have to wait."

"Oh," Rick pouted.

"Don't worry. Like I said it's only a few more hours. Now we really should be getting up, showered and…"

"Race ya to the shower," Rick interrupted, jumping out of bed and racing to the bathroom.

Kate laughed but quickly followed.

* * *

**_I don't have much to say tonight... it's fathers day here is Australia... so Happy Fathers Day to any fathers who see this! _**

**_I also have to say that I'm excited we've finally hit September... it means new episodes are really close! It also means my birthday is coming up! PARTY TIME!_**


	62. Chapter 62

"Thanks for letting me help you get ready," Alexis said as Kate let her into her apartment.

"I should be thanking you," Kate responded. "I have a feeling I'm going to need you to help keep me calm."

Alexis laughed. "You know everything is going to be fine tonight. Dad won't let anything happen to you."

"I know, I just need you to keep reminding me that."

"Okay," Alexis said.

Kate pulled Alexis into her arms and gave her a hug, not knowing what else to say.

"So, what do we do first?" Alexis asked.

"Drinks," Kate responded.

"Kate! I'm only ten!"

Kate laughed. "Not that type of drink. Would you like a cola? Or a water?"

"A water would be great."

Once Alexis had a bottle of water, Kate set her up in front of the television while she went to have a shower. When she got out she covered herself with her robe and called out to tell Alexis she could come through to help her.

"I'm not sure what to do with my hair. What do you suggest?" Kate asked.

"I like it with the soft curls, so definitely do something with that."

"Okay," Kate nodded, "I can do that. I was thinking maybe I could clip it loosely to the side." She pulled her hair to one side and held it there, "something like this."

"That will look great!" Alexis said with excitement. "Do that."

Kate smiled. It was actually what she had planned on doing with her hair but wanted to make Alexis feel like she was involved in the decision. So she was glad that Alexis agreed. With her strapless dress and her hair to one side she knew Rick would love it, and would probably struggle keeping his lips away from her bare skin. She knew it was mean, but she loved knowing she could tease him like that.

Kate quickly clipped her hair out of the way and pulled out her make up case.

"Make up first?" Alexis said.

"Yes," Kate said. "One of the things my mom taught me about getting ready for a night out was to do my make up first. Some people do it the other way around, but I like to do it this way because I can keep my hair out of my face while I do my make up without ruining a hair do."

"That makes sense," Alexis said. "I'll have to remember that for when I'm older."

While Kate did her make up Alexis simply watched carefully.

"What do you think?" Kate asked once she was finished.

"Perfect!"

"It's not too much. I won't look like a crazy caked on make up lady person in the papers? I want it to look good, and I've never had a picture in a paper before, so I really don't know ab…"

"You worry too much," Alexis interrupted, with a giggle.

"Ok," Kate took a deep breath in and out to calm her nerves. "If you say it's perfect, then I guess I'll just have to believe you."

"And so you should."

Next Kate worked on her hair and stopped every few minutes to check that Alexis thought it looked fine. Of course, Alexis just kept nodding. She thought Kate would look beautiful no matter what she did.

Once Kate had finished her hair they moved into the bedroom, and Kate took the dress from her wardrobe and laid it down on the bed.

"Hey Kate," Alexis said sitting down on the bed.

"Yeah."

"Do you think you are dad will get married one day?"

"I… uh… what?" Kate said shocked. That was the last question she had expected to be asked by the young girl.

"You and dad. Do you think you'll get married one day?"

"I, um, it's possible." Kate stuttered. She hoped that one day they would be married, and that Rick would be her one and done, but she wasn't sure exactly what to say to his daughter.

"Soon?"

"Oh Alexis, not for a while sweetie," Kate said sitting beside her.

"Why? He loves you, you love him. We see each other all the time. You stay at our place a lot. Wouldn't it just be easier if you got married and lived with us?"

"There's a lot more to a marriage than that, it's not something we can just decide to do on a whim," Kate said taking Alexis's hand.

"Is it because of me?" Alexis asked looking down at their joined hands.

"Why would you say that?" Kate asked.

Alexis shrugged.

"What's wrong Alexis?"

"Nothing," she said shaking her head.

"Alexis?"

"You have to get ready. Dad will be here soon," she said trying to change the subject.

"I'm not putting that dress on until you tell me what's wrong," Kate said stubbornly.

Alexis sighed before continuing. "Well, you know mom left when I was young. And sometimes I wonder if it's because I was too much for her."

"Alexis, the reason your mom left had nothing to do with you. She loves you, you know that."

"Sometimes I believe that, but it's hard when she's not here all the time. I miss having a mom around. My friends talk about things that they do with their moms and I feel like I'm missing out. I just think it'd be nice to have someone around all the time other than grams."

"Well Alexis, I know I can get very busy with work, but any time you want to spend some time with me, or you just want to talk, you can come to me, okay? We'll work something out."

"Okay. I think you're gonna make an excellent mom one day."

"Well, thank you Alexis. I can tell you that I am very much in love with your father, and I see a future with him, and a family but we have to take this one step at a time."

"If you had kids of your own, would you love them more than me?" the young girl asked quietly.

"Alexis? Where is this coming from?"

"I was reading Cinderella the other day and you know, Cinderella's step mother was evil, she hated her, but spoiled her own kids and treated them differently. Doesn't that happen all the time?"

"Do you think I'm evil Alexis?"

"No."

"Do you think I'm anything like the step mother in Cinderella?"

"No."

"And you know I love you?"

"Yeah"

"So you know you don't have to worry about that, do you?"

"No, I guess not. I'm just being silly aren't I?"

Kate smiled and nodded. "You have nothing to worry about. I love you. You are family and you always will be to me. Even if I have more kids, I will love you all the same."

"I love you too Kate." Alexis said leaning into Kate's side as Kate wrapped her arm around her back.

"Want me to let you know a bit of a secret?" Kate said. "But you have to promise not to tell your dad."

Alexis's eyes widened. "Okay, I promise."

Once Kate shared her secret Alexis looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head, with all the excitement.

"That is awesome Kate. I can't wait! It's going to be great. When are you going to tell dad?"

"Hopefully tonight," Kate said before picking up the dress ready to put it on.

"Yeah, definitely tell him tonight."

Alexis then turned to face the wall which at first confused Kate until she realised Alexis was just giving her a little privacy while she took the robe off and put the dress on.

When the dress was on Kate asked Alexis for help ensuring the back ties were tied correctly which Alexis happily checked before going and finding the perfect shoes from Kate's wardrobe.

Kate was just finishing putting her shoes on when there was a knock at the door.

"That's probably dad," Alexis said noticing the time. "You stay here. I'll call you out when we're ready. I'll probably need to fix his tie," she added rolling her eyes.

"Make sure you look through the peep hole first."

"I will," Alexis called back while running out of the door.

She was right, it was her father and her grams standing on the other side of the door, so she quickly opened it to let them in.

"Come here dad, let me fix your tie," she said, as they entered the room.

Rick was trying to remain patient as Alexis fiddled with the tie around his neck. "Are you finished yet? Can I go see Kate now?" he asked.

"No, you wait here," Alexis commanded running back towards Kate's bedroom.

When she had confirmed that Kate was all ready to go, she went back out to her father so she could watch his reaction.

Kate walked out of her bedroom and down the hall towards the room she knew Rick was waiting. She saw Alexis first, who had a huge smile on her face as she held her fathers hand, and Martha was on the other side of him. All three had their eyes on her, and she found it a little bit overwhelming, but she also knew that would be nothing compared to what she would have to deal with later. She looked to the one person who she cared about most, Richard Castle, and the look he had in his eyes was one of wonder and amazement.

Rick let go of his daughter's hand and took a couple of steps towards Kate. "You look incredible," he said softly, with a gentle smile.

"Really? It's not too much?"

"No, it's perfect," he replied with a look on his face that told Kate that he really meant it. No one had ever looked at her the way Rick did. No one could make her feel like the only one in the room the way he did when he looked at her.

"Told you," exclaimed Alexis's voice from behind him followed by Martha telling her to be quiet.

"You are stunning, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. To think that you would choose to be with someone like me, it's just, wow."

Kate blushed a little and looked down at her hands fiddling in front of her.

"I mean it," Rick said taking a few more steps towards her. He took one hand in his, and lifted her chin with the other hand so she was looking at him in the eye. "You are extraordinary," he said and he leaned in to kiss her. "Now, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. He still didn't want Kate to feel like he was pushing her into going public with their relationship. It was still a choice she needed to be sure of.

"I'm sure. As long as you're there with me, we'll be okay."

"I'll be there the whole time."

"Okay," she nodded. "Shall we go then?"

"You're definitely ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess."

"Then yes, we should go."

Kate thanked Alexis once more and hugged both her and Martha before they all made their way out of the apartment.

It wasn't until Rick placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her out the door and down the hall that he noticed the back of the dress was open with only ties keeping it on. He tickled her skin under his fingers, making her shiver a little under his touch.

"Kate," he whispered into her ear. "This dress is going to make things very hard for me tonight."

Kate grinned. "Well, if you behave yourself, I will make sure to reward you."

"Don't worry. I can be very well behaved when I need to be," he said before kissing her cheek.

When they got outside, Rick had a limousine waiting for Kate and himself. Alexis and Martha watched as Rick and Kate climbed into the car and drove away.

* * *

Rick had arranged for a limousine to take Kate and himself to the event. Even with the space they had in the back of the vehicle, they still sat as close as possible, mostly because Rick wanted to make sure Kate was okay. As they got closer to the event Kate was bouncing her leg and Rick knew the nerves were beginning to settle in.

"Kate, it's okay," he said placing his hand on her knee and gently caressing small circles over it to calm her down. "There's nothing to be nervous about. You're gonna be great. When we arrive there will be a lot of cameras flashing, just ignore them okay. If it feels like its too much, just look at me, I'll get you through it. It'll be over in a few minutes. Wait in the car until I come around to get you. That way you wont be standing out there in front of cameras on your own. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, I wont make you do anything you don't want to in front of them, so you just let me know okay?"

Kate nodded. "Okay."

"And remember," Rick said. "I love you."

Kate took a deep breath as they arrived at the fundraiser. Just as Rick was about to climb out of the car, Kate grabbed his hand. "I love you too Rick."

"I know."

Kate did as she was told and she waited in the car, watching the lights flash all around it, and felt the butterflies go crazy in her stomach. In her head she repeated the words _I can do this_ over and over again until she saw Rick open her door and hold out his hand to her.

His smile and the love and care she could see in his eyes was all she needed to give her the confidence to get through the next couple of minutes.

She stepped out of the limousine and as soon as she was out the cameras went wild. Rick placed his hand on the small of her back guiding her towards the door.

People were yelling all sorts of questions. "What is your name? Is this your new lady? How long have you been together? Where did you meet? Will you get married? Is it serious? Have you met the parents? What does your family think?"

Rick didn't answer any of the questions all the way to the door. He simply kept whispering in Kate's ear how great she was doing, and he felt that every step she took with him towards the door she gained a little bit more confidence.

"Want to give them what they want?" she asked Rick as they reached the door.

"If that's what you want," he returned a little surprised at the level of confidence she had.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Let's do this."

Rick turned back to all the photographers and smiled. "This is Kate. We met a few months ago. And yes, it's serious, serious as a heart attack," he said as she leant further into his side, "We met through a friend," it wasn't exactly a lie, "and as for the future, I guess we'll see what happens. Kate is the best thing that could have happened to me, and I'm not going anywhere as long as she'll have me."

Kate took a deep breath, and then spoke herself taking Rick completely by surprise. "Sorry ladies, I'm not letting this one go."

Rick then turned to look at Kate and raised his eyebrows as if asking a question and she nodded before leaning in and capturing his lips with hers. She wrapped her arms up around his neck pulling him closer and held him there for a moment. She wasn't going to let the kiss go too far, but she wanted to give them something believable. The cameras went crazy once again and didn't stop flashing until the couple had walked hand in hand into the building.

"Wow," Kate said. "That was exhilarating."

"You were great. Better than great actually. I always knew you would be, and now that's over, we shouldn't have to worry about a thing."

After being at the party for about an hour, Kate found that she was enjoying herself a lot more than she had expected. Everyone had been lovely, no one was trying to pry into her life or asked too many questions. Of course, some people were interested in how she and Rick met, and others congratulated them, but no one pushed for more information than they were willing to give. It astounded her a little when she realised that when Rick said he wouldn't leave her side, he had meant it. He really hadn't left her side, not that she was complaining of course. She enjoyed having him there, he kept her confidence levels up and he made her feel safe.

"How are you doing?" Rick said as he pulled Kate away from a couple they had been talking to.

"Thanks to you," she replied with a smile. "I'm doing fine. This really isn't too bad. Thank you."

"It's not too much for you then?"

"No," she said linking their hands together. "Knowing you're here by my side makes it easy."

"I'm glad," he said giving Kate's hand a squeeze. "So, would you like another drink?"

"Actually, I was thinking maybe we could go dance?"

"Lead the way," Rick said, and Kate pulled him over to the dance floor.

For the first time since arriving at the party, Rick felt like he finally had Kate to himself. He pulled her close and guided her hands to wrap behind his neck before placing his own behind her back.

Kate smiled at him as she stepped in close so they were dancing cheek to cheek. They remained there swaying to the music, ignoring others that came past or tried to get their attention.

Rick's breath was warm on Kate's neck and she felt it get warmer as he moved his head down a little, to kiss the side of her neck. She knew at that moment, she had done the right thing with her hair for the evening. Rick gently kissed his way up Kate's neck and for a moment completely forgot where they were.

"Rick," Kate whispered into his ear as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck. "People are watching."

"Sorry," he said as he removed his lips from her neck. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok," she interrupted. "It's just even if there's no cameras in here, and there's no journalists throwing questions at us, it doesn't mean we're not being watched."

"Yeah, you're right," he said.

The pair continued to dance together silently, enjoying the heat radiating from one another's body and the electricity they felt through their own bodies as a result of their closeness to each other.

Kate broke the silence after a few minutes, "Rick" she said softly.

"Hmmm," he hummed, pulling back slightly to see Kate's face.

"Alexis said some things tonight, that got me thinking."

"About?"

"Us."

"And?" Rick said getting worried. They were having a great time, surely he had nothing to be nervous about, but the seriousness in Kate's voice had him a little scared.

Kate giggled. "Gosh Rick, there's no need to look so terrified."

"Sorry," he said apologising for his worried look. "What is it Alexis said?"

"She asked if I was going to marry you," Kate said.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Would you like me to talk to her about that?"

"No, its' fine. I explained to her that I would hope that one day yes, we would get married, but that it wasn't something we could rush into."

"Right," Rick nodded. He tried to hide the smile that was growing on his face but it was difficult when Kate mentioned that she did one day wish to marry him.

"But like I said, it did get me thinking and I want to thank you for being patient with me, and not pushing for things. I know it must be hard at times, but I just want you to know I have made a decision, and I've told Alexis already but now I need to tell you. A couple of weeks ago, you asked me to move in, and I never really answered you properly."

Rick nodded.

"Ask me again?"

Ricks grin grew even wider than it already was, which Kate didn't think was even possible. "Kate, move in with me?"

"How soon can I…"

Rick didn't wait for her to finish her sentence. He just pulled her body back into his and plastered his lips to hers while picking her up and spinning her around.

Eventually he put her back down and spoke again. "Stay with me tonight, and we'll start moving your stuff in tomorrow."

* * *

_**True Love**_

_The question on everyone's lips over the last couple of days has been, "Who is Richard Castle's mystery woman?" Well, we, at The New York Times, have the answer. We don't know much about her except that her name is Kate. The next question we know you're asking is, "How serious is it?" Well, just take a look at the pictures and we're pretty sure it won't take you long to come to the same conclusion as we did. It's serious, and it's true love!_

* * *

_**Well, that's the story for now... I didn't think it was necessary to write more about the party so I'm sorry if anyone was disappointed with it. I will be writing an epilogue which hopefully I'll have up in a couple of days :) **_


	63. Epilogue

Sleeping without Rick beside her had become quite difficult for Kate. She'd gotten used to his warmth beside, behind, beneath or sometimes over her. After a hard day, it helped to calm her. Listening to his breathing even out as he went to sleep before her some nights was soothing. So, there was really no need for an alarm this particular day, when he hadn't been beside her all night, she'd barely slept at all and felt like she'd been awake all night. She couldn't believe how much she missed him when she'd seen him less than 12 hours ago and spoke to him on the phone about 8 hours ago. Thankfully, it would just be a few hours until she would see him again, and she couldn't wait. She wasn't sure whether she should be nervous or excited about the day that was ahead of them but she knew, nervous or not, it was going to be amazing. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face as she walked toward him, dressed in white, with her father at her side. She knew, without a doubt, that he was probably going to have tears in his eyes, although she expected that she would have more. It was going to be a memorable day for both of them.

It was almost unbelievable to think of everything that had happened over the past year. Everything had changed, it was like her whole life had become a fairy tale, and sometimes she still expected that one day she would wake up to find that it was all a dream.

It was exactly one year ago, when Kate started a new journey, when things started turning around for her, when she started believing in a future. It was exactly one year ago since she met Richard Castle.

She laughed when she thought about their initial discussions about their relationship and saying they would take it slow, take it at her pace. Back when it all began she hadn't expected this day to be here quite so soon. She didn't think her pace would have allowed that but somehow, every step they took felt right, and then when he had proposed, she didn't hesistate in saying yes. And now, only a year after meeting, she was going to be walking down the aisle.

She thought back to the day about 6 months ago when Rick asked her to be his wife. It was a beautiful day. They had celebrated the end of her probationary training period as a detective with Blythe and the other detectives the night before and had probably had a little more to drink than normal but in the morning Rick was up before the sun and eager to start the day. They were taking a few days off to go visit the Hamptons house again, their first trip back since they had been with their families, and Rick had even arranged for Martha to watch Alexis for a few days so they could have some time to themselves. Rick told Kate he had big plans and she was going to love it, but after their late night she still took her time getting out of bed.

The first place he had taken her to was the rehabilitation centre. She'd asked if he was trying to make some sort of joke, but he wasn't. He'd arrange a nice brunch for them and said it was the place where changes in his life started and it was always going to hold a special place in his heart because it was the place where they first started their relationship. Kate had tried to argue that it didn't start there, it wasn't until they were in the Hamptons but Rick simply corrected her by saying that the Hamptons wouldn't have happened if they hadn't have bumped into each other at the centre.

After brunch he had taken her up to the Hamptons but much to her surprise, they didn't go to the house. First, he took her to the museum they had visited, and together they remembered how Jim had been with Alexis that day and how it was a real bonding moment, and the moment Rick first realised just how much of a family they had already become.

After visiting the museum they had gone to the theatre where they had watched grease. Rick reminded Kate of their time there, the fun they'd had and told her it was the first time he'd heard her sing and he realised how beautiful her voice was. It was Kate that then remembered the argument that evening, but Rick that also said that it was that argument that made them talk things through. It was that argument that made them find their way towards the path that joined them to each other.

Once they'd left the theatre, Rick took Kate to the beach cove where their first relationship discussion had taken place and no words had been needed when they got there. The memories of that night, the beautiful view as the sun went down over the water, the promises that had been made but not actually spoken, it was the beginning of their being together.

Kate had enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but even up to that point hadn't figured out what Rick was up to. The next place he took her was the aquarium. That was a place that was definitely filled with good memories. They both knew from their previous discussion that this was the place they realised they were falling in love with one another. Rick had taken her straight to the penguins and Kate had found it odd that there was no one else around, but didn't question it. It wasn't long before she realised, it was because Rick had organised it. They stood in front of the glass of the penguins enclosure watching as the penguins swam past, Rick was naming the penguins like Kate had done with Alexis, when suddenly at the back of the penguin enclosure a tv screen was rolled into place. The speakers began to play 'My Endless Love' as pictures of Kate and Rick were shown on the television screen.

_"What's going on?" Kate asked turning to face Rick who reached out for both of her hands. "Rick? Wha…"_

_ "Kate, I'm a man of words but, when it comes to you, I'm speechless. There's simply not enough words to describe everything that I feel for you and everything you do for me. Because I can't say it in words, I'd like to show you every day for the rest of my life, if you would allow me to. Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?" _

It was almost impossible to forget the look on his face as he had knelt done in front of her as he took out a small box with a ring inside. Kate had never seen him looking so nervous, his hands were shaking as he held out the ring towards her.

Of course, she had said yes and started crying right then and there but Rick was quick to stand and wrap her in his arms. She was pretty sure he almost dropped the ring on the floor due to his excitement but he would never admit to it. He said he was in total control and had everything in order, including his ability to hold a ring no matter how excited he had gotten.

When they arrived back at the Hamptons house about an hour after his proposal, they were met by all their family and friends who were there to congratulate them. Kate had been extremely surprised to see them. Apparently, Rick had been working on things for about a month before his proposal, and when Kate had asked him what he would have done if she said no, he simply told her he knew that wasn't going to happen, once again proving his absolute faith in their relationship.

A few weeks later he started joining Kate at the precinct more often, helping out with cases and within a couple of months managed to find himself a place on the team as Kate's partner. He wasn't technically employed by the city but was constantly there, helping them link together all their facts and finding the story in each of their cases. Kate hated to admit it at first, but she did actually believe she had the best partner possible. And now here she was, about to marry him.

* * *

Back at the loft, Rick was frantically running around while Martha and Alexis just stood laughing at him.

"Trust me Richard. I'm fairy certain Kate is not behaving this way over at Lanie's," Martha said.

"Mother, you don't understand. This is the day. I only get this day once, it has to be perfect," he said.

"Well, as much as I wish I could help you freak out, I promised Kate that I would have Alexis to her by 10am so she could get her hair done."

"Do you have her dress?" Rick asked running past from the kitchen into the lounge room for no apparent reason.

"Kate has it."

"Oh," Rick said stopping for a brief second. "Shoes?" he asked.

"Kate has them."

"Food, does she have food? The ceremony isn't until 12:30. I don't want Alexis to get hungry."

"Seriously Richard? You need to sit down, take a few deep breaths and calm down. I'm sure the ladies will feed Alexis."

"Dad," Alexis said running to catch up to him and took his hand in hers. "Come sit down."

Rick did as he was told and sat down on the couch next to his daughter.

Alexis turned to face her father before she spoke. "Dad, you need to calm down or you're going to make things extremely difficult for yourself. Today is going to be great. You've planned everything perfectly, there's nothing to worry about. I'm going to go with the ladies, they will have everything for me, so you don't need to even think about whether I'm okay. I want you to just focus on yourself for the next few hours. Take some deep breaths and just relax. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Right. Okay. Thank you Alexis. What would I do without you?"

"Well, without me, you might never have met Kate, and you probably wouldn't be getting married today. So, you'd be pretty lost and lonely without me."

Rick pulled his daughter into his arms. "You're right. Thank you Alexis. Thank you."

"Now, I'm going to go to meet Kate, get my dress and get ready. I'll see you soon."

Rick kissed Alexis's head before letting her go. "You're going to look like a princess."

"I know," she giggled. "I'm really excited. You and Kate are finally getting married!"

* * *

A few hours later, Rick was standing before his friends and family, waiting for Kate to enter through the back doors towards him. He was struggling to stand still and found himself swaying back and forth on his feet while he fiddled with his hands and Captain Montgomery stood beside him trying to calm him down.

After joining the team at the precinct, Rick and Captain Montgomery had become good friends and often played poker together. Occasionally Rick and Kate had invited his entire family over for dinner with them. Montgomery was a great support to Kate at work and always encouraged her so when it came to the wedding, Rick felt it was the right choice to include him and asked him to be his best man.

When the back doors opened, everybody in the room stood up and faced the aisle waiting for the ladies to walk down. Rick stood upright, suddenly unable to move, his feet glued to the floor beneath him and his eyes stared at the doors, now open at the back of the room.

Soon the music started playing and he saw his young daughter walking down the aisle. Alexis had been so excited when Kate asked her to be a bridesmaid, but then that excitement was followed with worry when she thought she was too young, but Kate had known just the right words to reassure Alexis and the excitement had come back fairly quickly. Rick watched as she made her way towards him, with a smile bigger than he had ever seen before. After divorcing Meredith, he had worried about how Alexis would react if he ever married again, but he knew he really had nothing to worry about. Kate and his daughter had become close. They were like mother and daughter but best friends at the same time. It was better than he ever could have imagined.

Following Alexis was Lanie, who looked gorgeous. Rick was surprised at how they had managed to find dresses that suited both Lanie and Alexis with them both being so different. Their skin tone and hair colour were both so different but the dresses they had chosen worked on both of them. He guessed his mother had probably helped them. She was somewhat flamboyant with her own outfits, but she did know a lot about choosing the right dress for your skin tone and hair colour.

Next came the woman that he had been waiting for. Kate appeared through the door standing next to her father. She had chosen to wear a veil, which meant he was unable to clearly see her face, but he could see that she was smiling, and he knew her eyes were gazing back at him. It took everything he had within him, not to run up to her and take her in his arms right then and there, but he knew soon enough she would be with him again, and then he was never going to let her go.

When she reached the front, her father lifted the veil from her face and joined her hands with Ricks giving him a quick smile. Rick briefly smiled back at Jim before his eyes returned to Kate. There were tears filling in her eyes and he knew they were gathering in his own, he wanted to much to reach out and just wipe them away as they fell down her cheeks but soon the priest started talking and they were turned to face him, rather than each other.

Rick didn't let go of Kate's hand the entire time, and occasionally would look to her in his peripheral vision. Every now and then he could see Kate do the same, and each time they caught each other, it made them smile a little more.

What was probably only a few minutes felt like forever to both Kate and Rick who really just wanted to get to the vows and the putting on of rings. They just wanted to be married. Eventually, they got to that part they were waiting for and once again, they were facing each other, both hands clasped together.

The priest continued, "Do you, Richard Edgar Castle, take Katherine Houghton Beckett, to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day on, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Rick responded with a teary smile.

"And do you, Katherine Houghton Beckett, take Richard Edgar Castle, to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day on, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Kate nodded, almost unable to get any words out. She swallowed the lump that was in her throat and managed to get a very quiet "I do" from her mouth.

Rick lifted both their joined hands to her face and gently brushed the tears away before they got into their vows. They had chosen to write their own, but now that it came to that part of the wedding, Kate wasn't even sure she was going to be able to say any of it without falling apart. It wouldn't be falling apart in a bad way, but she would really like to at least get a few words out before her emotions took her captive.

The first vows to be spoken were from Rick. "Kate," he started. "My Kate. There are so many things I could say, so many promises I could make to you right now, but if I listed them all we'd be here forever, and I really just want to be married to you, like yesterday." Kate giggled a little at him before he continued. "I will make one promise to you now though, and that Kate, is that I will spend the rest of my life making promises to you. I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you now and forever."

Kate's emotions were beginning to reach the point of uncontrollable, so when it came to saying her vows, she kept it simple, knowing she could promise Rick everything in the world, but there was just one thing she really needed to say.

"Rick, I love you, for now and for always."

When the priest announced it was time to kiss the bride, Rick didn't waste any time in reaching for his wife and planting a kiss to her lips. He didn't care about who was watching, all he cared about was Kate, and so he put everything he had into that kiss leaving the both of them breathless, and a little shaky.

As they walked back down the aisle, now married, Rick knew his family was complete again. It had been for a while, but now it was official. There were wedding certificates and rings to prove it.

Kate looked over to the man beside her, and knew that Alexis was following, and her father and Martha wouldn't be far behind. She had a family again. It was a real family, full of love, support and care. A day like this made her miss her own mother, but Martha had stepped in and played the part well. This was definitely a family she was never going to leave.

She looked down at her stomach and then up at Rick whose smile never faltered. She couldn't wait to tell him that in about 8 months time, another member was going to be added to their little family.

* * *

_**Okay, I thought I'd made you all wait long enough before posting this. I actually didn't plan on it taking this long but life kinda got REEEEEEEEEALLY busy. So I just decided tonight that I would stay up and write until it was done. I haven't really edited it properly and kinda just went with whatever my fingers typed so I hope it all made sense. **_

_**Now it's time for me to sleep again before I start writing a new story. Oh... and it's less than 2 weeks til season 6 starts.. SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!**_


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